A Worthwhile Endeavor
by Rodrick Minett
Summary: A floating castle. Immersion very few people have ever experienced. As an avid gamer, who was I to resist? As I, Riwet, ventured into the floating castle, little did I know that this would be the start of an event that will change me, for better and for worse. My first fic. OC character. Self-insert. Some OOC. Rated T for violence, profanity, and occasional author immaturity.
1. CH 1 - End Of Beginnings

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DISCLAIMER: I do not own Sword Art Online or any works referenced in this fanfiction.  
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Chapter 1 – The End of Beginnings

 _November 6, 2022  
1st Floor_

I stopped in my tracks, taking in the scenery of Aincrad's first floor. For a video game's first level, the developers really went all out in designing this. Sweeping flat landscape, with lush forests and large mountains in the distance. A large rectangular tower resided far into the horizon, stretching upwards beyond the clouds. Bustling settlements were distributed throughout the floor, from small villages to huge cities like the one my party member and I just came out of. And last but not the least, a breathtaking afternoon sky.

Literally, almost everything I expect to see in a JRPG, I saw on the first level. Seriously, it's hard to imagine 99 more floors looking as pretty as this without spending a budget so high they could buy an island with it instead.

A distinct ruffling of grass behind me disturbed my musings. My awe and curiosity were replaced by mounting dread as I realized one simple thing – what's a VRMMORPG without monsters?

"We got company." I pointed at the tall grass.

"Wait, wait, no tutorials?" My partner replied nervously.

"Well, this might be one." I replied, hopeful.

Suddenly, two figures jumped out of the tall grass!

Never in my life had I wanted to run away more than in this instant. Two large wolves, aptly named Dire Wolf, were barking at us. Their enormous claws were bared, and one of them glared at me so intensely that it sent chills down my spine.

Startled, we jumped back and clumsily drew our weapons. My buddy drew a sword and was shakily pointing it at one of the wolves. I drew my spear, a rather small one at that, and pointed it at the one glaring at me.

"I've seen bigger wolves in other games, but I'm still scared as all hell." I shuddered, clutching my weapon as I prepared myself for battle, and my probable demise. "Sefton-san, I'll take one, you take the other."

"A-are we really gonna do this, Riwet-san? W-we should just run." Sefton replied, gripping his sword tightly and acting very agitated. A very proper reaction to the situation at hand.

"Hey, hey. Relax. You're making me freak out, too. And I doubt we can outrun them." I quipped nervously, while not taking my eyes off of the Dire Wolves. This is an early-game monster, right? Sure doesn't look like it. "Only one way to settle this. Come on, it's game time." We very slowly inched towards the wolves. Judging by the size of their claws and fangs, it's probably in our best interest to avoid their attacks completely rather than block it with our weapons or let our 'armor' take the hit. Our armor being the Starter Equipment, a simple shirt and trousers, boasting an incredible defense rating comparable to a wet piece of paper.

Normally, when I'm facing a large wolf or two it would've provided me with two very distinct responses. Either I'll happily and uncaringly kill it for some EXP, or if I see them in real life, trip my recently-acquainted friend and run while screaming in a high-pitched voice.

However, since this is the most realistic video game I've ever experienced yet, I'm pretty sure my mind doesn't know what to do. I could feel my skin tingling on the back of my neck.

Suddenly, the wolves leaped at us claws-first, breaking my train of thought. The bigger one went for me like a speeding car, while the smaller one targeted Sefton, moving even faster. Damn, these things were even bigger up close.

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_ _ **Cue Music: Breath of Fire IV Soundtrack – Bastard Sword  
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"Holy shit!" Sefton jumped sideward to dodge, falling over.

"Gh…!" Cursing under my breath as I dove to my left, I was barely able to dodge the brunt of the wolf's attack, its claws slicing my right shoulder as it lunged past me and turned around, facing me. Three red gashes spread onto my shoulder. The wound was emitting eerie red particles.

I felt a burning sensation in my wounded arm, but the pain inflicted is only simulated and severely muffled. I doubt any sane person would try this game if the pain sensation is fully emulated. Grimacing, I quickly checked how much HP I lost. Displayed on my HUD, my HP dropped by about a quarter. Wow, that is a _lot_ of damage!

I quickly got up and faced the wolf, which was strangely silent but tense, as if anticipating something. I darted forward for a stab, but it quickly jumped back and started barking again. Interesting. Am I seeing things, or is that a pattern?

Fifteen years of playing video games told me that mobs, especially mobs found in the starting area, tend to be easy to beat, because they're either pathetically weak, or have very exploitable weaknesses. Testing my hunch as the wolf lunged, I dodged to my side again, this time completely evading its attack completely. Again, it landed past me and quickly turned towards me, silent and alert.

I rushed towards it, my spear poised. Come on. Take the bait. Reacting to my action, the wolf jumped back.

That signaled my attack.

I leaped again, closing the distance. I knew it. Bait its dodge and it won't be able to move for a short while. It's now or never!

"Die, bitch!" With all of the strength I can muster, I delivered a hefty stab. Yes! My attack connected! After a small but noticeable spark of red particles, the wolf was sent flying a short distance. Thankfully, there was no blood. While it was in mid-air, I noticed that all of its HP was depleted. It exploded into bluish particles and disappeared.

Seems that a Dire Wolf, while having high-damage attacks and intimidating as all hell, don't have that much HP.

Victorious, I smiled and let out a shaky sigh of relief.

"Look out!"

Sefton's scream snapped me back to reality. I turned to where he is. A wolf was bearing down on me as it ran full tilt. I froze up, unable to move.

Sefton tackled the wolf to the ground. The wolf managed to knock him to his back, trying to bite his face off. Sefton was holding it back, blocking its fangs with his own sword. I saw his HP take a serious hit. "Aaah!"

I quickly made my way towards him. With both hands on my spear, I prepared to strike at the wolf. In my rush, I failed to realize that the wolf disengaged from Sefton and tensed itself, ready to react to my charge.

The wolf dodged to the side, evading my attack. It then tackled me in my side. I staggered backward, reeling but able to maintain my footing. My HP again dropped about a fifth. The wolf then bared its fangs and leaped for a bite. Shielding myself, I raised my right arm. It promptly lodged its fangs into my arm.

I grit my teeth, a pained grunt escaping from my mouth as I dropped my spear in panic and used my other hand in trying to pry the damn thing's jaw open. I can see from the corner of my eye that the rest of my HP was dropping at an alarming rate.

Fortunately, Sefton quickly got up to his feet. He swung his sword and was able to slash at the wolf, hacking its HP to about a tenth. I felt its fangs loosen on my arm.

"Raaaaagh!" Following Sefton's attack, I let out a loud cry and, overwhelmed by adrenaline, raised my left arm and _punched the wolf in the face_ , finishing it off.

A message appeared with a small fanfare:

 _*Ding!* Level up!_

 _*Ding!* Spear Proficiency Up! New Skill: Linear!_

Exasperated, I collapsed face first into the grassy field. Sefton planted his sword on the ground, leaning towards it with a relieved smile on his face. I glanced at my HUD. His HP was a bit more than half. Mine was slightly over thirty percent.

Grinning uncontrollably, I exclaimed in English,

"Show me your moves!"

I just couldn't resist.

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End Music**_ _  
_ _ **Loading…Complete**_ _  
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"That was intense!" Sefton exclaimed. I wholeheartedly agreed as we walked slowly to the starting area, the Town of Beginnings, the encounter still fresh from our minds.

"Yeah. This has gotta be one of the most fun MMOs I ever played." I replied.

"I didn't know that punching dogs in the face is your idea of a good time."

I stared at him, narrowing my eyes.

"Oh, come on, I'm just joking." He smiled mischievously.

I made a mental memo for myself. Dire Wolf. An imposing monster that hits hard, but has a predictable attack pattern and very low HP. They're also too sensitive to sudden movements, and so they're vulnerable to feints. It must be designed that way to teach people who rush recklessly and scare the shit out of new players.

"Maaan...I think that's enough excitement for me. I'll just hang around somewhere and log out." Sefton said tiredly.

"OK. I'm just gonna go buy some stuff and log out afterward. Alright, see you soon."

Sefton and I waved at each other as we went our separate ways. I headed for a weapons shop near the inn I'm renting. After selling the loot I earned from killing those two wolves, I bought a Wooden Shield and an Iron Spear, which is about the same size as my starting spear.

As I found out, the reason why my spear was a bit short was that there were two sizes of polearms. The one I got is classified as a Short Polearm – ranging from 120 cm to 150cm. Anything longer than that fits the standard Polearm classification – large and in charge and designed strictly for two-handed use. I'm sticking with short polearms for now. I like how it felt and I'm able to comfortably use it one-handed, leaving my right hand free to equip a shield or something.

I strolled back to the inn, went up to the roof of the building, and stood near the edge, and once again, enjoyed the view, now safe against danger.

"Fuu…goodbye, my social life. Well…didn't have much, anyway." I muttered to myself, grinning.

With the success of virtual reality devices, a Japanese video game company called Argus took things to the next level. I don't exactly know what kind of magic they did, but they created the NerveGear, a device that literally draws people away from the waking world, and into the land of virtual reality. Then, they employed a video game development director, Kayaba Akihiko, and made Sword Art Online.

Sword Art Online. The very first Virtual Reality Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game. Taking advantage of the unparalleled immersion provided by the NerveGear, it offers the most immersive experience as of yet. Every single thing is ridiculously detailed, from the individually swaying blades of grass to the small threads of my clothes.

Honestly, the FullDive technology was one of the most important things I considered when I was contemplating on buying a NerveGear at launch. Pretty much anything hyped up to a ridiculous degree has a very high risk of under-delivering. I was also pretty contented in playing conventional video games. After experiencing it first-hand, though, I have no regrets.

I'm pretty thankful that I enjoy playing video games so much. 5 years ago, I thought that I'll be overwhelmed when I moved from my hometown in Canada to here in Japan. Fortunately, I was able to quickly adapt to the culture, the people I have met accepted me, and I was able to transfer my Steam account. Hey, I spent a lot of money on my games, and games kept me company when I was still new and didn't know anybody. And then this game happened, and it was like a dream come true.

When I was done musing and feeling sentimental, I remembered that I have something to do IRL. The sun was setting and the sky was tinted orange. It's probably linked to Japan's time zone, so I guess it's time to go.

"Welp, it was fun while it lasted. Homework's not gonna finish itself…" I sighed and opened my Player Menu, slowly finding the Log Out button.

"After I'm done with homework, I'll probably have some late-night gaming sessions… pretty sure there's gonna be some negative effects on my body if I play too much…whatever…"

"…"

"…"

"…huh?"

My fingers stopped.

The Log Out button's grayed out. No matter how hard I tried to press it, it won't respond. That's weird. I felt pretty nervous and confused.

Suddenly, a blue light engulfed me.

Next thing I knew, I was at the center of the city, along with a lot of players. I found Sefton, looking confused. I called out to him and he asked me if I knew what the hell is going on.

And then, _he_ appeared. Kayaba Akihiko. In his giant GM avatar and clothed in a flowing garb and a hood that concealed his face.

 _He_ spoke about how we can't log out unless we beat all one hundred floors. How if we die in the game the NerveGear's gonna _fuck our brains up_. And to make it even more perverse, _he_ made our avatars look like us in real life. _He's_ really hammering down the fact that _this_ is now real.

As _he_ disappeared, I stood there, stunned, understanding but denying every word he said. My mind was reeling. My hands and knees were shaking. My head hung low and it took everything out of me to not fall on my knees and break down into tears. Amidst the chaos, I noticed a lot of players doing just that.

I looked at Sefton, who was on his knees. His face was frozen, and his mouth agape. His eyes were opened wide, staring at the sunset sky. I called out to him, but he looked like he wasn't even aware of my presence.

This was just too much. Something that exists as a means of entertainment was twisted into something that's too cruel to exist. We're trapped in here, without any choice but to conform to _his_ rules.

Not able to take it anymore, I absently went back to my room in the inn. I laid on my bed, looking at the ceiling. I noticed that my vision was blurring and my eyes felt hot and watery.

I wept in the silence of my room, defeated and in denial. I couldn't believe what happened.

What a really messed up prologue.

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** _ **Chapter End  
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 **A/N** : Hello! Welcome to my very first fanfic, "A Worthwhile Endeavor". AWE for short. The acronym is a happy coincidence.

First and foremost, I want to thank Gabriel Blessing. His fanfic "The Hill of Swords" was the very first fanfiction I read to completion. I was so engrossed in reading it that I finished it in less than a week, despite me having a busy school life. I also want to thank every single person who has made a fic. Your amazing fanfictions are the ones that inspired me to make my own content.

Now, onto the notes. This story is probably classified as a "self-insert fic". While I'll mostly base his personality and morality to my own, I'll give him some, if not all of my disgusting weaknesses, and I'll also do my best to develop him into a worthwhile character. I am pretty one dimensional after all *lol*.

I get my information primarily from the SAO wiki. I find it weird that all skills are labeled as Sword Skills even if it's a skill for daggers, axes, etc. So, for the purpose of this story, I'm renaming Sword Skills to Weapon Skills. In addition, I feel that some Skills are ubiquitous enough to be used by multiple types of weapons.

While it might not make sense to the setting, I will make shout-outs and references to video games released in the 2000s and early 2010s. I just can't help myself. Also, I think that comparing the things Riwet sees on SAO to things that already exist will make my job at writing descriptions easier.

Riwet will have a little adventure of his own, but he'll meet a lot, if not most of the cast, and then some. I also plan on making him present on many of the canon stuff, possibly even changing the outcome.

 _However_ , I will not, in any way, shape, or form, make him an overpowered Marty Stu. While I see Riwet as my reflection who's gonna have a noticeable influence on the world of SAO, it's not my intention to make him the op hax, harem master, most important character in all of AWE. If I feel that he's stuck that way and I can't do anything to salvage him, I _will_ kill him and move on with the story.

Speaking of the story, aside from giving Riwet his own adventures, I'm planning on following the canon as much as I can, except for the times I won't. As I said, some events might play a little bit different.

I'll try to post updates within 35-40 days of the last update, but I might take longer, so no promises.

That's all for now. Thank you very much, and have a good one.


	2. CH 2 - Journey

Chapter 2: Journey's First Step

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** _ **Cue Music: Bloodborne Soundtrack – Hunter's Dream  
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** There I stood again, motionless, at the edge of SAO's Starting City, the Town of Beginnings. There were no one else nearby, just the simulated night sky. I was unnaturally calm, the strong wind ruffling my hair and blowing my clothes to the side. I bent my head downwards, absently looking at the ground, dozens of kilometers away from me.

Have you ever stood atop at the edge of a high place and looked down? I've done that a couple of times in real life. All those times, I felt two things. First is fear. I get cold feet, my knees would shake, my breath would quicken, my mind would call me stupid and I'll move away from the edge. Second is curiosity. I'm morbidly drawn into the edge, something inside me beckoning me to take another step, telling me that something's good is waiting for me.

Strangely, as I peeked at the edge of the first floor of this virtual prison, I wasn't feeling fear, just the morbid curiosity. Will I really die in real life if I die here? Or will I just wake up in the real world, away from this place and be reunited with my parents and my sister, the supposed "death" being only a very sick social experiment? A single step, an action requiring so little effort, had the possibility of answering all of my questions.

"..."

Three days have passed since the world's first VRMMORPG game turned into a sadistic fight for survival. Most of the players were too overwhelmed to do anything other than mope around in the starting city, although I've heard that a few brave souls set out to try and clear the game. Disturbingly, I've also heard that quite a few of them died to the Dire Wolves.

Ever since that day, I haven't talked to Sefton. I'm not a counselor, so I don't really know how to help him. Also, I was there beside him when the metaphorical shit hit the fan, so the least I could do would be to stay away from him so he wouldn't remember.

Besides, I'm pretty sure my hands are full with keeping _myself_ from going crazy. Maybe that's the real reason why I wouldn't talk to him. It's because _I'm_ the one who might remember that day and fall apart completely.

However, I couldn't keep myself from being worried. Before I wandered to the edge of the Town, I checked the Monument of Life earlier in the day, and his name was not crossed out. The Monument of Life tracks every player's names, crossing their names out if they died.

At least he's still alive. Not like the others who died to the mobs. Not like the player who…the player who—

The player who jumped off the edge and killed himself.

"...!"

That realization brought back the feeling of fear to me, like someone splashed a bucket of cold water on my head, snapping me out of my trance. I began to shake uncomfortably. My eyes went wide and it became hard to breathe. I quickly moved away from the edge and staggered back towards the inn. I couldn't stop shaking.

What was I thinking!? I was _this_ close to jumping. This was different from the passing thoughts I had before in my life, like 'wouldn't it be fun to dive into a speeding truc-no you stupid idiot'. In those times, I instantly knew that this was a bad idea. But when I was on that ledge, I was seriously considering it. Still shaky, I collapsed onto my bed the minute I locked my door.

I'm losing my mind here. I can't stay here anymore. I laid on my bed for who knows how long, still somewhat in denial of the situation I found myself in. Three days ago, I thought that it was a dream come true. Then I watched, powerless, as the dream turned into a nightmare right in front of my eyes.

I hate this. It's like I'm giving up. I don't want to give up. I want to live. I _need_ to live. There's a lot of things I'll lose if I die. And I'll be damned if I died thinking that it's all just a joke. I can't think straight. Everything's a blur. Damn it, my head hurts!

I clutched my head with my shaking hand as I shifted around in my bed. Miraculously, I fell into a dreamless sleep.

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** _ **End Music**_ **  
** _ **Loading…Complete  
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I opened my eyes. The sunlight shone through my apartment window. Still sleepy, I opened my Player Menu and looked at the clock. It's early in the morning. I let out a yawn and sat up, rubbing my face while planting my legs beside the bed.

Oddly enough, I felt calm and refreshed. Maybe because it's the first time in three days that I slept normally. In previous nights I just laid in bed, eyes closed but not being able to sleep. It's probably because my mind was still reeling from recent events and I'm still getting used to my avatar and sleeping in a new environment.

I groggily stood up and went to the bathroom to wash my face. The sensation of water hitting my hands and face was a bit different because of the fact that SAO's engine didn't or couldn't completely simulate the feeling of water, but it felt refreshing nonetheless. I surely didn't regret spending quite a bit renting this room. A lot of cheaper inns probably didn't have bathrooms.

I dried myself with a towel and looked at my face in the reflection. "Wow, it's really my face." I curiously observed the face that was staring back at me. A small, square face. Round, black eyes and a flat nose. Short black hair combed from left to right. An almost perfect recreation. "Well, that's half an hour wasted on the Character Customization screen." I chuckled mirthlessly.

I left the bathroom and sat on my bed, crossing my arms as I thought of what I should do next. Surprisingly, my train of thought was clear, and my headache seemed to have disappeared. This calmness wasn't the solemn acceptance of death I felt yesterday. This was the feeling of wanting to be in control of what I can and can't do. Speaking of what I can and can't do, I took a moment to decide what I _want_ to do.

Steeling my resolve, I read the Beginner Guidebook I got for free in the shop. I then equipped my spear, shield, and new skill, and left my room to start getting stronger. According to the guidebook, there's a village called Horunka is near here. I've decided to make my way there, fighting monsters and leveling up on the way. Hopefully, I'll become strong enough to help with clearing the game.

I should at least try and fight my way out of this mess. Staying here in the Starting City is breaking my mind. I need to get away from this place and do something, _anything_ before I decide that suicide is the best option.

As I left the inn, my stomach let out a slight grumbling noise. Amused, I pulled out a piece of bread and ate it while slowly walking towards the exit. It seems that SAO replicates hunger through slight sensations and cravings, and it also replicates the feeling of being full. Maybe that's why they included a piece of bread even at the start of the game, to showcase this immersion.

I stopped at an armor shop and purchased a simple armor set, equipping it immediately. I earned quite a bit last-hitting those two wolves. Afterwards, I checked that I have all my stuff equipped properly.

Suddenly, I realized that I'll be going at this alone. I looked around, but there were almost no players hanging around the path I'm taking, and the ones that were there were just walking around aimlessly, eyes downcast and lifeless. Figures. The bravest players were already out of the Town, kicking ass and taking names.

Alright, solo play it is. While I might be able to convince the more adventurous ones, they need motivation of their own if they were to survive outside these walls. Also, I don't want to get other people in danger because of my stupid goal.

I stopped and leaned on a wall, drawing my guidebook out and reading it again. Good news is that the pathway leading to Horunka had no mobs that deal status effects. According to the book, status effects like Paralysis, while manageable with a party, is drastically harder to survive if stricken alone. Hooray for me. The bad news is that the road's littered with Dire Wolves. No matter. Slow and steady. I've already experienced their attack pattern. That said, too many players died to them. I just need to be careful to not get surrounded and lure them one at a time. Too bad there's no QTE prompt to get them off instantly when they're on top of you.

Satisfied, I put my guidebook away and picked up the pace, checking my equipment menu again. After that, I continued on, lost in my thoughts. I'm really gonna do this, huh? Be stronger and finish the game? Well, what else is there to do? Despite the horrible circumstances, SAO is a game, a game that tests your abilities as much as real life, and more importantly, has a distinct ending.

I've never thought of video games as _just_ video games. Hell, I've been playing video games even before I learned to write. While it's insignificant to some people, I treat video games with as much investment as real life struggles. And, like all the video games I've played, I will do my best to learn its mechanics, level up to ridiculous amounts and get my damn good ending.

When I got to the main road, I could see the exit. There was really nobody there, except for a small, young girl. She wore what I would guess to be the female version of the Starter Equipment, and had her hair tied in pigtails with two red ribbons on each side of her head. She doesn't seem to have any weapons equipped. She looked out of it, her hazel eyes peering into the virtual morning sky.

I felt bad for her. I'm terrible at gauging someone's age, but she looked like she a bit younger than me. Someone that young shouldn't experience something like this. Granted, I was already playing a lot of pretty messed up video games behind my parents' back when I was even younger than her, but I didn't have to worry about dying. However, the feeling of pity changed into curiosity and awe once I got a good look at her face. Her expression, while dull with sadness, was alive with determination and resolve.

For a short while, I just stood there, entranced, looking at the girl. I was amazed by how she could make that expression, even though we're trapped here. I then recomposed myself and started walking again. I considered talking to her, but I don't want to stay here any longer. Plus, I'm not really into flirting right now. And I certainly don't want to get her involved in my selfish goal. She's gonna be fine. I hope. The least I could do for her right now is to be strong enough to help clear the game. I picked up the pace and went past her, checking my equipment menu. As I was walking past her, I thought I saw her stare at me. Probably just my imagination.

Eventually, I arrived near the exit. In the next moment, I'll be heading out for the first time in four days. So, the best thing I can do right now is to…check my stuff again. After checking my equipment and stuff for who knows how many times now, I ventured outside the Town, and into the field.

My adventure starts now. I just hope it won't have a tragic end.

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** _ **Loading…Complete  
Changing Perspective: Third Person  
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The girl stood there, looking at the simulated morning sky. Even if it was fake, she felt calm. She had recently started going out of her room and wandered around the Town, doing nothing in particular. Perhaps she got used to the virtual world and accepted the circumstances she was in. She had locked herself these past few days, depression and anger overcoming her, having nightmares every time she slept. She couldn't take it anymore and forced herself to go out. She was glad that she made that decision. It felt nice to be outside.

In her room, all she could think about was how horrible all of this was. All she felt was frustration, denial, misery, and defeat. However, that slowly changed when she gazed at the sky. She became calm, accepting the virtual reality that ironically introduced her to the harshness of real life. She held her hand in front of her chest and muttered to no one in particular,

"Maybe...I should be s-stronger, too..."

The girl knew what she wanted to do. Even though she was trapped in this dream world, she was certain that even more of her life would be wasted if she were to just stay here and feel miserable. She was certainly afraid of death, but she felt that there were a lot of things waiting for her beyond the gates of this town. While she couldn't picture herself fighting at the thick of the battlefield with every fiber of her being, she believed that she could, slowly but surely, become strong enough to have an adventure she could call her own, helping others and being helped, and contributing to the people clearing the game in any way she can.

As she was looking at the sky, she saw something move from the corner of her eyes. Turning her head, she saw a player walking past her towards the exit. _Is he going out alone?_ She thought. Curious, she observed him more closely. He was young. Certainly older than her, but not by much. He was wearing some armor and was armed with a spear and a shield. She looked at his face. His expression was that of someone afraid and hesitant but determined nonetheless.

She saw him stopping in front of the exit and, after taking a moment to check his equipment, leave the Town. And then, she was alone. Her new-found resolve growing even more, she went back to her inn to rest, to prepare. She's not quite ready to head out yet, but she's confident that she can start soon.

*** **  
** _ **Chapter End  
**_ ***

 **A/N:** Alright, that's another chapter done. I'm pretty satisfied with how I did this chapter.

First off, thank you very much for the views. I was sick when I uploaded Chapter 1, and seeing that within 12 hours someone already favorited and followed my story. It made me feel really good. And after that, within a day, 20 people already read it. Again, thank you very, very much.

Now, for the story notes. I want to talk first about shipping. Judging by the final parts of this chapter, it's pretty obvious who I want to pair him with. I don't know why, I just want to.

Fun fact: Riwet checking his equipment over and over again is based on my own personal tic. I don't know why, but every time before I sleep I would check if the stoves, faucets, etc. are off, and I would do this over, and over, and over, and over, and _over_ for ten minutes.

Next up, fight scene!

That's all for now. Thank you very much, and have a good one.


	3. CH 3 - On The Road Again

Chapter 3 – On the Road Again

"Urk!" I let out a cry as I blocked a Dire Wolf's attack with my newly-bought shield. It lunged at me with the speed of a freaking race car. It took a chunk of my shield's durability away and my HP dropped slightly. I charged at it, and it dodged prematurely. Capitalizing on the wolf's blunder, I closed the distance, activated Linear and struck it. Direct hit! It exploded into particles and I was rewarded with some Col and EXP.

Alright, another one bagged. Counting this one, I've killed a total of six of them ever since I left the Starting City. I couldn't believe how many these damn things were. Luckily, I was able to find a somewhat safe road that wasn't populated very much and I was spending my time meticulously killing the ones that were directly in the way while also getting a feel for the capabilities of my virtual body.

Slightly fatigued, I drank a basic health potion and caught my breath, waiting for my HP to be full. The health potion that I had bought doesn't instantly give HP, it slowly regenerates a set amount within a certain amount of time. I stood still for a while, taking a small break and scanning the area. My weapon and armor got some scratches and dents, but still going strong. I need to be careful about durability management. Once a piece of equipment loses all of its durability, it disintegrates. It returns to the player's inventory, rendered unusable until the player finds someone that can repair it, namely NPC blacksmiths or Players with Smithing Skills.

I've been at this for almost an hour now and leveled up a few times, but diminishing returns was starting to have a considerable effect. These things hit hard for their level and I should probably move on. Fortunately, I was pretty close to Horunka and I saw that there were only six wolves left directly in the way.

All in all, so far, so good. Except I only had two healing potions left. Spent all of my money on weapons and armor. I _could_ try and go back to the Starting City for repair and resupply, but I'm nearing Horunka and I don't exactly know the mob respawn times in this area. The worst-case scenario is that I'll be stuck halfway between Horunka and the Starting City, surrounded by wolves. Also, since I leveled up, my max HP is large enough that the healing potions available at the Starting City would only heal more or less a quarter of my max HP.

Now that I think about it, I still haven't seen a single player farming for these wolves. Guess they moved on to safer or more lucrative farming places. Having nobody else but these damn things as company is pretty sad and unnerving. Huh, strange. Having played primarily single-player games my whole life, I thought I'd be used to being alone. Welp, if I'm gonna be ridin' solo for most of the time It's probably a good idea to get used to it as soon as possible. Or maybe I should join a party once in a while.

I think I've rested quite enough. The last thing I wanted to happen was more wolves re-spawning. I readied myself and slowly crept up to a Dire Wolf that was farther away from the other ones. It noticed me moving towards it and slowly prowled towards me, growling menacingly.

The wolf then ran at full sprint. Steeling myself, I raised my shield. After fighting so many of them, I learned how to effectively block with my shield and how to receive an attack from those wolves without losing my footing. I blocked its attack perfectly without even staggering, fluidly swinging my shield outwards, sending it past me. Before it can react, I turned around and hit it with Linear. Just like that, the mob died.

Alright, I got that one quickly with minimal damage. Really getting used to this. Time to pick up the pac-

My thoughts were interrupted by a Dire Wolf leaping behind me, digging its claws into my back and toppling me over.

I fell on my face, almost letting go of my weapons. My HP went down by a quarter. Thank god I didn't cheap out on armor. Still, that was damn sloppy of me, letting myself get complacent. As I tried to regain my footing, the wolf jumped away from my back, running for a short distance before turning around and facing me.

It would have still been smooth sailing, if not for the fact that I heard a familiar barking behind me. Turning my head slightly, there's another Dire Wolf behind me, ready to attack.

I froze at the realization. It was long enough that the wolf that attacked had cycled into its ready stance and was also barking towards me. Damn it, I missed my chance. I got distracted by the second one for too long. Instead of freezing up like a statue, I should have at least tried to attack when it was vulnerable.

 *****  
** _ **Cue Music: Hellsing RAID OST – Survival on the Street of Insincerity  
**_ *******

There were two Dire Wolves – one in front, and one behind. And both of them were ready to attack me.

Shit. Shit. _Shit._ This was my first time fighting two of these bastards at the same time. Before this encounter, I managed to lure one away without aggroing the others. This was even worse because one was behind me.

I quickly took out a potion and drank it while I raised my shield and tried to pay attention to both of the wolves. Sensing my action, the wolf in front of me charged fangs first. I also heard the wolf behind me also making a move. I raised my shield, blocking its lunge and landing past me. Before I had time to react, the second wolf was already in range. Panicking, I hurriedly blocked with my shield. I was successful in deflecting the attack, the wolf landing behind me. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to prepare myself for two consecutive lunges, so I was sent reeling backwards. By that time it was too late to counter.

Now we're back to square one. One wolf behind and one in front. That, and how their attack patterns work, made me feel like I was a target of two people in a jousting tournament.

This pattern repeated a few times. The wolves attacked one after the other, the consecutive attacks nullifying my ability to react. However, I was slowly but surely getting used to the impact. Unfortunately, my armor's taken a beating, and the continuing onslaught was taking a toll on me. I need to change my tactics pretty soon.

...

Thinking about it, they've been the ones who were attacking first. It's about time I did something more...proactive.

Steeling myself, I waited for the wolf in front to make a move. Sure enough, the furry bastard ran at me full sprint. Showtime.

I charged towards the damn thing, my spear poised to stab. Reacting, the wolf lunged at an incredible speed, intending to surprise me and go past my spear's minimum range. Too bad for you, I've got another present for you, you oversized mutt.

I tightened my grip on my shield and bent my arms, covering my right side. I brought my right side forward and, using all of my weight and momentum, rammed into the wolf.

It must've been a critical hit or something, because, upon contact, the wolf _exploded_ into particles. Holy crap.

My feeling of elation was short-lived, as I heard heavy panting and loud footsteps behind me. Turns out Dire Wolf Number Two was a couple of meters away from turning me into a brain dead teenager. I swung my spear as I turned to face him. I barely hit the damn thing with the shaft of my spear, sending it flying away from me and landing with an audible thud. I quickly used Linear and killed it.

 _*Ding!*_ _Level Up!_

 _*Ding!*_ _Spear Proficiency Up! New Skill: Three Talon Strike!_

I planted my spear on the ground and leaned towards it, feeling very tired. Ooh, new skill. Not really in the mood right now to check what it does. Gonna take a look at that as soon as I get to Horunka. Honestly, if this was real life I would've died of exhaustion after the third Dire Wolf. Thankfully, the NerveGear doesn't fully replicate physical stress.

I let out a tired sigh as I looked at my gear. HP's above half, but not by much. Spear and armor's taken some hits but still good to go, but my shield looked like it'll fall apart any moment. I can't take much more of this. Hope this would be my last blunder for today. I turned around and continued my way to Horunka...

Only for my blood to freeze as three pairs of feral eyes stared back at me. Turns out, Aincrad wasn't done kicking my shit in. It hadn't even started yet.

There, standing in a row, were the last three Dire Wolves that were directly between me and the rest of the path to the city. All three of them were aggroed to me, and they started barking.

My feet were still. My breath was light and my body felt cold to the core. Part of my mind told me to run. The other part told me not to bother. With my current stats, there was no way that I would've been able to outrun them.

The whole world felt like it was going in slow motion as the wolves all ran at me simultaneously. I blankly looked at their dirt-ridden claws that were eventually going to find their way towards my body and wondered what it would feel like if their enormous teeth were to bite on my flesh.

They're getting closer now. I took a quick look at their faces. Their eyes were blood-red...trained towards me. Their faces were contorted into a feral grimace, baring their fangs and letting their saliva flow out of their mouths.

As they were almost in range, my vision went blurry, and then black...I could no longer see anything...not the trees nor the grass... not even the cause my impending death...all I could see is darkness...all I could hear was silence...all I could feel was solemn acceptan-

 _NO!_

At that moment, something inside of me snapped.

 _FIGHT! KILL! LIVE!_

My vision went back in an instant. Feeling returned to my body. I raised my shield and struck with my spear. One of the wolves was hit straight on the head, reducing its HP to zero. I braced myself and blocked the second wolf. It was successful, but my shield ran out of durability, disintegrating into particles and leaving my non-dominant right arm open. While I was reeling, I let out a pained groan as the last wolf's attack was a critical hit on my right arm, tearing my whole arm off into particles. My HP's color went yellow as it dropped below half. The two wolves landed behind me.

I turned around to face them and I growled with a quiet, but menacing voice,

 _"_ _ **You won't kill me."**_

My eyes felt hot and I couldn't stop my arm and legs from shaking. But, I felt like I was on fire. My mind was screaming at me to kill the rabid bastards, the ones who dared to harm me.

My shield was gone, and so was my right arm. My HP's less than half and I was down to my last potion. I would have to drop my spear just to even start drinking it. The only things standing in my way to Horunka were these growling pair of furry _assholes_ who were at full health, both of them capable of taking my life in an instant.

 _Let's get to work._

I rushed towards the wolves. The wolves also lunged towards me. I jabbed my spear and it made contact with one of them, killing it. As I finished my attack, I darted to my side. The wolf managed to hit the edge of my torso as it flung past me, my HP dropping deep into the red zone. The impact was strong enough that I was forced to kneel, eyeing the one responsible. I managed to get back up right before he hit me with another lunge, using my spear to swat him away. The wolf's body hit the ground hard and before it could react any further, I followed up with a Linear aimed directly at its head. As expected, it disintegrated, along with my spear which lost all of its durability.

I breathed heavily. Now, there were no mobs directly blocking my way to Horunka. Exhausted, my knees gave out and I collapsed face first onto the grassy field. Dark spots appeared before my eyes. I was about to black out when I heard a familiar sound.

 _*Ding*_ _Level Up! New Skill: Battle Healing!_

Whoa, that was a close one. The last thing I wanted was to freaking take a nap that I probably won't wake up from. I got up and dusted myself. I inspected my right arm. It was severed just above where my elbow should've been. I noticed a new status effect displayed on my HUD, Body Part Loss. It had a timer that was counting down. I assumed that my arm would "grow back" once the debuff expires. I should read up on the details of this debuff.

I got up and drank my last potion, taking care to not drop it because my hand was shaking so much. Even though Horunka was just a short distance away and there were no enemies on sight, after what happened earlier I _did not_ want to take any more chances. The potion began refilling my HP slightly. It wouldn't be enough to clear the red zone, but hey, I'll take what I can get. I noticed that as soon as I drank the potion that the Body Part Loss timer counted down a bit faster. I was too shaken to run, so I trudged clumsily along the road, and finally, I reached the entrance.

 _ *****  
End Music  
Loading... Complete  
Changing Perspective: Third Person  
*****_

"Good work for today!"

A man cheerfully called regarded his exhausted party members, relief evident in his voice. As a group of two parties, they were farming for Col and EXP at the northern side of Horunka. The mobs there had debilitating status effects, but they were backing each other up so it was manageable. He was relieved not only because the yield that day was bountiful, but also because despite everything that had happened, he was able to keep his party members alive, all of them growing stronger in the process, including himself. He knew these people in real life, and because of that, he wouldn't take any chances.

He noticed the exasperated looks of his group as they laid their guard down and took in the safety of the City. As far as everybody knew, mobs cannot enter cities.

"We're done for today. Everybody restock on potions and get your equipment repaired. After that, be sure to rest up, we're meeting at the north exit in the morning!"

"Hey Klein, you need any help?" One of his friends called.

"Nah. I'm just gonna look around and enjoy the scenery. Get some rest, Dale." He replied back. As his teammate went away, he started taking a stroll near the southeast part of Horunka. While this village is small and there wasn't really anything interesting to see, the red-haired player always felt at ease when he was taking a leisurely stroll through the green grass and the lively trees.

His red hair, supported by his bandana, was swaying slightly as the sunset-filled sky let out a calming breeze from the southeast. He turned to face the wind, and his eyes narrowed.

There, at the southeast exit, was a player entering Horunka. Normally, this wouldn't be such an unusual sight, except for two small differences that made his breath freeze and eyes widen with concern.

First: The player's right arm was missing.

Second: The player's HP was red and he looked like he was about to pass out.

"Oi! You alright?!" He called out and started running towards the player.

 _ *****  
Changing Perspective: Riwet  
*****_

"Oi! You alright?!"

I heard someone shout towards my general direction. I raised my head and looked at the source of the sound. A player was running towards me, looking shocked and concerned. He had long, red hair that pointed upwards, supported by a bandana. His clothes were primarily colored red.

I looked back at them, confused, until I looked at where he was looking, which was myself. Let's just say that I looked like a bomb blew up right in front of me. Being literally disarmed didn't help my image, either.

"Yeah, I'm good! I just need to lie down for a bit!" I shouted back.

As he got close to me, I continued in a tired voice, "You know where the inn and shops are?"

"Good?! Your arm's freaking missing!" The red-haired player exclaimed, incredulous. On my HUD, the debuff timer's counting down faster. Huh. Is it because I'm in a safe zone?

"Don't worry about it. If this is correct, my arm's gonna grow right about...now. The timer reached zero, and light emanated from where my right arm got cut off. The light stretched outward, tracing the shape of my arm until finally, the light dissipated. And there was my arm, good as new. At the same time, my body stopped shaking uncontrollably.

"Whew, to be honest, I was kinda nervous that that was permanent." I admitted. His eyes widened and he was stunned speechless.

Now that he was closer, I got a closer look at him. He looked a bit older than me. His body's also a bit bigger and more toned. His shirt was white, but his leather cuirass and pants were colored red.

I sat on the ground and sighed. "Yeah. Had a pretty nasty encounter with like ten Dire Wolves on the way here. My gear's damaged and I'm out of potions, but hey, got good loot." I mused. "Speaking of which," I pointed into the city, "I assume there's an inn and shop somewhere over there?"

The redhead's expression went from concerned to slightly incredulous. After a few moments, he recomposed himself and smiled. "Yup. Horunka's pretty small, so you won't miss it even if you're on your own." He held out his hand. "But I got nothing to do for a while, so I'll go with you if you don't mind."

"Thanks." I replied gratefully, taking his hand. He hoisted me up to my feet and we went on our way.

As we were walking towards the buildings, I felt the urge to start a conversation.

"Hey man, thanks for doing this. That reminds me, I didn't get a chance to get your name. Name's Riwet."

"No problem, kid. Name's Klein." He replied jovially. "I was just a bit shaken up. I've never seen someone's HP go to the red zone until you zombie'd your way into the town."

I chuckled dryly. He's a pretty cool guy, as far as first impressions go.

"Well, that's what happens when you're alone and let your guard down in the middle of hostile territory." Seriously, I gotta stay concentrated next time.

We reached the shop. It had all kinds of things in it. Near the shop, there was an inn.

"Well, here it is. That inn nearby is full. You can check, but there are a couple more inns farther into the city. You won't miss it."

"Thanks, Klein-san."

"Also, while we're at it, I'll add you as a friend." He opened his Player Menu and pressed a few buttons. A little jingle rang. I opened my Player Menu, and it displayed a notification,

 _Player Klein sent you a friend request._

"Not a bad idea." I shrugged and pressed Accept. It displayed a notification, confirming my action. "Um, Klein-san...I gotta spend some time sorting equipment and buying stuff. You should probably rest up or something. You've spent quite a bit of your time helping me already."

"Just Klein's fine." He chuckled. "Yeah, it's about time for me to go." He nodded to me, and turned around, walking away. I bowed slightly as I watched him leave. Then, he stopped after a few steps. After a moment, he turned back and walked towards me. I stood straight and tilted my head.

"What's up?"

"Hey, Riwet...do you want to group with me? I've been partying with a couple of friends. They're IRL friends, and we've been playing these kinds of games together for a long time." He paused for a bit, looking away. After a second, he looked at me and continued. "You got pretty banged up playing solo, so... how about it?"

I was tempted to accept, but I knew my answer.

"You're too kind, Klein...,"I started,"...but sorry, not right now. I want to know how much I can accomplish alone. I just got too careless, I'll make sure it won't happen again. Also, I don't want you to be responsible for me. I'll take your offer someday, but not right now."

"...alright. Stay safe in the meantime, kid." Klein replied. He turned around and went on his way. Again, I bowed slightly as I watched him leave.

As he was a good distance away, I turned my attention to the shop.

"So, ya got somethin' that might interest me?" I muttered while entering.

 _ *****  
Loading...Complete.  
*****_

Well, there I was again, lying on a bed, exhausted. A lamp was illuminating my room, tinting it with a soothing orange color. Pale moonlight gleamed from the window. The room was pretty simple and bare, but it's cheap, so no complaints here.

I sat up to the side, turned the lamp off and stared at the night sky through the window, perpendicular to my bed. Everything happened so fast. One minute I was making slow and steady progress towards a new location, and before I knew it, I was already there, missing an arm and nearly dead. But hey, I still made it.

After taking in the night sky for a few moments, I opened my Player Menu. I had sold most of my old gear and the loot I got and bought new stuff. Learning from my previous mistake, I bought a lot of potions. Good thing that the healing potions in Horunka were more potent than the ones in the Starting City. They even had antidotes and stuff to cure debuffs.

I replaced my Starter clothing with the Traveler's Set, which is made up of a shirt, a pair of trousers, and with a pretty nifty pair of finger-less gloves. Interestingly, you can actually choose a color from a preset selection before purchasing. That was probably how Klein got red armor. I chose a navy blue color theme.

I managed to salvage my chest plate. The damages were repairable and the chest plate offered at the shop had more or less the same stats. I opted to repair my old one and I bought small gauntlets and greaves.

For weapons, I sold what was left of my Small Iron Spear and bought a Steel Halberd. The Steel Halberd came in two different sizes. I chose the smaller one. It was about the same overall size as my old one, but it had a shorter grip, larger blade and a small axe head mounted on one side. It'll take a bit of time getting used to a slightly different weapon, but I think access to slash-based attacks and Weapon Skills will be worth it.

I was able to replace my broken shield with the exact same one. That said, I need to start learning on how to effectively dodge blows and parry with my weapon. I don't really know how effective tanking hits would be later in the game. Also, blocking felt like the wind was being beaten out of me. I don't like the feeling.

Finally, I bought a Dagger. It was really cheap, and I think it would be good for me to increase my Weapon Proficiency for other weapons. Unlike pole weapons, knives don't have a minimum range, perfect if I want to mix up my tactics and fight up close and personal.

After checking my gear, I moved on to my Level tab. I allocated my points evenly throughout all of my stats but put a little bit more onto Strength. After that, I moved on to my Skills tab and checked the new skills I unlocked. Other than the useful but basic stuff like Extended Weight Limit and Scanning, I looked at the last two ones I unlocked: Three Talon Strike and Battle Healing.

Three Talon Strike is an interesting skill: it buffs the damage of my next two normal attacks for a short period of time. If I hit my enemy with my empowered strikes, regardless if it was blocked or a direct hit, for a short time window I will gain access to a strong attack that breaks guard and launches the enemy in the air. Also, the post-motion delay's short, too. Pretty nice. I should try if I can follow up with a Linear when the target's on the air. I should also assume that the launch gets less effective if the target's bigger and it might not be very effective against enemies that dodge well.

Battle Healing is a self-buff, restoring a percentage of my max HP for a certain duration. Wait a minute, _percentage health regen_ instead of a set health regen? That's pretty effective. Sure, it's not much right now, but by being based on percentage, I'll heal even more every time my max HP increases. Even more interesting is it's additional description, which states that the effectiveness of the spell increases by repeated use, leveling up, increasing Combat Skills, and repeatedly going in the red zone... _what_? Hmm...well, my best bet is to just level up normally, but I should think of something that'll reliably get me in and out of the red zone to level that up. That something's probably gonna be dangerous.

After checking my skills and gear, I closed my Player Menu and stared blankly at the night sky. It looked like the night sky in real life, no additional moon or magical phenomena. Although, the stars were really visible and really pretty. Absolutely magnificent.

...

...well, I should probably get some shut-eye soon.

I stopped admiring the night sky and laid down on my bed, contemplating as I waited for sleep, my eyes staring blankly at the ceiling.

I don't know why, but despite coming that close to death, I still want to go out there and fight. Sure, I'm afraid, but, looking back, when I was able to kill those wolves and level up, it felt good. _Really good._ Maybe the feeling will go away as I spend more time on the battlefield. Or maybe it won't, and I just like killing stuff. Who knows, right?

I feel like a damn freak for thinking this, but I'm looking forward to tomorrow. I'll grow even stronger, and maybe, just maybe, I can help clear this damn game. But when you think about it, being _excited_ to play a death game might be a symptom of a serious mental condition. But hey, I'm not insane! ...probably.

Well, at least _Kayaba Akihiko_ had enough decency to not pit us against each other. I don't even want to think what would happen if SAO was a competitive multiplayer deathmatch game.

Well, that's the cue for me to sleep. I closed my eyes and turned to my side. My mind wanders to weird places when I'm tired. Let's just say this: I don't know what's gonna happen, but I _will_ be ready, and I _will_ win.

And I'm also definitely _not_ insane.

...

...Probably.

 _ *****  
Chapter End  
*****_

 **A/N:** Man, this was a bit longer than my last two chapters. Had fun writing this.

Other than that, I got nothing much to say, other than that I hope that my writing skills would improve little by little as I write the chapters, and also that I hope to make a fic that people enjoy.

That's all for now. Thank you very much, and have a good one.


	4. CH 4 - Tolbana

Chapter 4 – Tolbana

 _November 29, 2022_

The spacious halls of the 1st Floor Labyrinth echoed with the sounds of battle. I threw my head back and backpedaled, narrowly dodging an uppercut. I retaliated with a Slant, driving the axe head of my halberd downwards, only for it to be blocked with a pair of two bulky forearms crossed together. I then pulled my spear back, hooking the blade and slicing it into its arms. It roared a cry of pain as I jumped back, making some distance.

Smirking darkly, I regarded my enemy, a Ruin Kobold. Ruin Kobolds are humanoid in shape, have bulky bodies, large tails, and rabbit-like ears. They have blood red skin and about as tall as an average human being. They are unarmed and unarmored, wearing only a pair of pants, but sport a decent sized HP and attacks with fast swings and uppercuts.

I activated Linear and struck at it again, the Kobold blocking with the same forearm. One of the weaknesses of this monster is that it cannot counter, and while it has quick attacks, it has a noticeable wind-up before attacking and slightly long post-motion delay, and it cannot crit randomly, only when they counter players mid-motion. Also, while they are good at blocking, they do not dodge or parry.

I lowered my guard and made a beckoning gesture with my head, letting him get a free shot at me. The Kobold launched a powerful straight punch to my torso, reducing my HP by a fifth.

I activated my Battle Healing skill as the Kobold was stunned post-motion. My smile widened as the tip of my spear glowed, signaling that a Weapon Skill was activated. Oh, I have just the thing for you.

I stabbed once, connecting with the Kobold's shoulder. It let out a cry of pain as its HP decreased sharply from my empowered attack, jumped backwards and got ready to block. I swung my poleaxe downwards. For a second, I swore that the Kobold grinned viciously as it perfectly blocked my attack, my poleaxe bouncing away from it and hitting the ground. Well, there's more where that came from. My dark smile turned into a bloodthirsty grin as I swung upwards, successfully completing Three Talon Strike.

A red diagonal line seared through the Kobold as its block was broken and was launched a short distance in the air. After waiting for the post-motion delay, I hit it mid-air with a Linear, blowing the blood-skinned bastard back even further away from me. It landed head-first with a satisfying thud and promptly exploded into particles.

I paused for a moment, scanning for nearby enemies...nothing in my immediate vicinity. I opened my Player Menu and checked. It was getting a bit late. Since I got some good loot and XP for today, I should probably head back to Tolbana. Closing my Player Menu, I made my way to the exit.

I've been farming this enemy for XP since yesterday. They gave a generous amount of XP and Col, even more so because I don't have a party to share them with. But they're pretty scary to fight the first couple of times, especially when I'm alone and also using them to try and increase my Battle Healing Proficiency.

After a couple of fights with more enemies on the way, I finally arrived at Tolbana as the sun set and the sky turned dark. Man, I hope we find some way to travel quickly. The guidebook mentions Crystals of some sorts being available on the later floors. I say let me in on that shit.

I made my way back to Tolbana, contemplating.

It's been almost three weeks since I first set out from the Starting City. After two weeks of solo adventuring, I arrived at Tolbana. Pretty uneventful compared to day one, but I leveled up quite a few times.

Last time I checked the message boards, they finished mapping 19 out of the 20 levels of the 1st Floor Labyrinth, and they were halfway done mapping the 20th, too. Even better, the players were handing out map info for free.

Speaking of message boards, I noticed that a few days ago, message boards now had newspaper dispensers installed near them. Apparently, someone who knew what he was doing was able to establish a newspaper system of sorts. Pretty nifty tool for being up to speed with recent developments, but I gotta take it with a grain of salt.

Unfortunately, there was also very grim news. As of today, more than two thousand players have died, with beta testers having double the death rate compared to normal players. Damn. We haven't even got to the freaking floor boss yet. In the span of a month, we already lost more than a fifth of our total population. Worse, the percentage is bigger when compared to people those are people that actually tried to become stronger. There were a lot of people who still dwell on the Starting City, not wanting to risk their lives. Though I don't blame them, they have their own fears and circumstances. Also, probably nobody wants to be tasked with implementing conscription.

In addition, there was the problem concerning the discrimination of beta testers. Word on the street is, beta testers were scumbags that withheld information and monopolized high-paying quests and monster farming spots. The discrimination was so bad that as of recently, nobody wanted to claim that they are beta testers, for fear of getting lynched.

Guys, come on. We're all friends here. On a normal game, those accusations would probably be true. But SAO isn't a normal game. If they were really monopolizing locations and resources, they wouldn't have that high of a mortality rate. Although, on the other hand, what's stopping the people from falsifying the death rate?

I don't really know how I should feel regarding this issue. I can see why normal players would feel that the beta testers are keeping the good things to themselves, and there might be some that do just that, but I'm sure that that's not enough justification to drag all of them in the mud. Also, if the news is to be believed, beta testers actually risked their lives to test what they know. Many things can change from the beta version to the actual release of the game. If you look at it differently, they are actually the ones that are at a disadvantage because of outdated information and risking their lives to test if what they know carries over to the real game.

I narrowed my eyes as I was nearing the city's entrance. The current situation's pretty grim. Over the span of three weeks, lots of people have died, and the ones that know the most about the game are at risk of both getting killed by the mobs and the very people they're helping. If nothing changes, everyone trying to clear the game would be dead within three months, which leaves the non-combatants in the Starting City trapped, or forced to fight.

I sighed as I passed through the city entrance and headed towards the shops for repair and resupply. I really hope that the situation improves. That said, I don't think that the current status quo would go on much longer. Humans adapt. This is hopefully a knee-jerk response to the shit that was thrown to us three weeks back. I'm not counting on one person who can miraculously fix everything for us. Either we get our collective shit in order and minimize casualties as we clear this game, or the majority gives up and we spend the rest of our lives here.

After visiting the shop, I strolled towards the inn, checking my stuff along the way. While I don't plan on spending the rest of my life here yet, I won't be able to clear the game alone, if the majority of people decide that the virtual world's good enough.

I stopped moving and took a look around me, observing the scenery. Truth be told, isn't this good enough? These three weeks felt much longer for me. I got so accustomed to living here that it's difficult to remember what the real world feels like. One of the quirks of human adaptability, I guess.

As I mused about, I remembered that I haven't checked the message boards yet.

 _ *****  
Loading...Complete  
Changing Perspective: Third Person  
*****_

A lone player stood at Tolbana's well-lit street. He wore a blue shirt and a pair of brown trousers. All he had that could pass off as armor was a small leather cuirass that covered his upper torso. He liked to be fast, so he prefers to be lightly-armored as to not get encumbered. Other than that, he kept his sword, Anneal Blade, out of his person, storing it in the inventory. Cities are safe zones, so there was no point in keeping it equipped. Also, a friend of his kept pestering him about someone that wants to buy his sword. He doesn't want to sell it, and he recently started to keep his weapon inside the inventory when in a city to avoid any more attention.

The bright lights illuminated his handsome, almost feminine face, as he walked alone. As far as he knew, he's not going to join a party anytime soon. Considering what happened to him on the first day, he's become weary of his own mortality, and how, even though they were stuck in the same life-or-death situation, he realized that other players are as much of a threat as the mobs, sometimes even worse.

He frowned, contemplating as he continued on his way. Meetings to fight the first-floor boss will begin three days from now, as they found the Boos Room was found earlier in the day. Even if he's an effective solo player, Floor Bosses are excruciatingly difficult even for an organized team. His experience with the beta told him that teaming up would be a good idea, the _only_ good idea. But, considering what happened to him, and the mounting discrimination towards beta testers, he wasn't quite sure if he even wanted to participate.

"What?!"

As he passed a message board, his musings were interrupted by someone shouting.

Startled, he turned to look at the source of the noise. The player was wearing a blue colored Traveler's set, with small pieces of armor distributed evenly towards his body. The player seemed to notice that he was making a commotion and promptly shut up, looking around if he attracted attention. Eventually, the player saw him staring, and looked away, abashed.

 _Well, this is awkward._ He thought as he smiled briefly at the player. As he turned to leave, the player called out to him,

"Um, excuse me!"

He stopped walking and turned his attention back to the player. As the player approached him, he replied,

"What's up?"

"First off, sorry for the noise." The player said, rubbing the back of his head. After a few seconds, the player continued, pointing at the message board. "By any chance, can you fill me in on the details on that announcement?"

 _Should I help him?_ He thought, reluctant. He honestly didn't want to bother. This particular player might not look like a beta tester-hater, but honestly, _nobody_ looks like one _. I'll just tell him that I don't know, and tell him about someone who does._

As he tried to respond, he remembered an interaction back when all of this just happened,

 _Hey, Kirito! You look pretty good in real life! You're quite my type!_

 _Your look suits you ten times better too, Klein!_

"...Sure." Kirito replied. "Let's move closer to the message board. We're in the middle of the road."

"Alright, thank you very much." The player replied and started to head back to the message board, not quite noticing his inner dilemma.

While Kirito might not like to get involved with others after what happened to him, he felt like he failed, not as a player, but as a person, when he left Klein for his selfish excuse of wanting to be stronger as soon as possible. His decision weighed down heavily on him, and he felt regret eating at him every time he thought about the time he left Klein. Now, he's faced a similar situation, and he was determined to make one he won't regret.

 _ *****  
Changing Perspective: Riwet.  
*****_

Boy, great job at making a complete ass outta yourself. Good thing there was only one player who saw me freaking out. I thought he was gonna blow me off, but good thing he decided to help me.

I took a good look at him. He was wearing an overall dark clothing, with a dark blue jacket. It gave off the feeling of a capable speedster. He looked like he was about the same age as me, and boy was he a looker.

We stopped at the front of the message board.

"So, what do you wanna know?" He asked.

"This one." I pointed at the recent message. The title of the message was:

 _First Floor Boss Found_

"Oh, that one, huh?" He replied. His eyes narrowed and he slowly explained it to me. "The clearers found the Boss Room of the First Floor. According to the Player Guidebook, the First Floor Boss is Illfang the Kobold Lord. The strategy meeting will begin in four days from now."

"Wow, that's pretty amazing." I responded, "If they are able to kill Illfang, it'll be a huge achievement. It'll definitely improve morale."

"Yep. That's why we're so eager to get this done." He said, excitedly. "Morale's pretty low on the front lines. If we beat him, it'll show everyone that beating this game is still possible." Wait, 'we'? Is he also a clearer?

"Awesome." I paused for a bit. "...hey, you think I can participate?"

He eyed me evenly. "That depends on your level. What level are you?"

"...9."

"...yeah, that's a pretty good level." he looked a bit concerned. "The average level of the clearers is around 10 to 12. There's still four days left, so you'll have plenty of time to level up."

"Alright, sounds good."

"For leveling, I'd advise you to go to the 18th level of the Labyrinth. The enemies there are primarily Ruin Kobold Squires. They're a bit armored and carry a variety of two-handed pole weapons, but they have predictable attacks and give good EXP. Also, Ruin Kobold Sentinels spawn in the Boss fight, essentially Squires with the only difference being that they're slightly more armored. In addition to gaining XP, you'll also be able to gain practical experience related to the boss fight."

I made sure to remember that. "18th floor. Ruin Kobold Squires. Got it. Thanks." I nodded.

"By the way, do you play with a group?"

"Primarily solo." I admitted sheepishly.

"That's alright. Just try to team up when you can. Even then, there are lots of clearers that are good leaders. Even if you're not used to partying, you'll do well if you follow orders and pay attention to everything that's going on around you. But yeah, practice as much as you can." He elaborated.

"Thanks a lot for the advice." Boy, he sure does know a lot about this.

He smiled and said, "Don't mention it. In the MMO world, if you have no knowledge, or worse, wrong knowledge of the game the results would not be pretty." He rambled. "If you wanna know anything, don't hesitate to ask. I know everything up to the tenth floor, from wares lineups to the mob's cries-"

Yep, he's definitely a beta tester. We haven't even finished the first floor, and he already knew information beyond that. Also, looks like he realized that he pretty much told me that because he promptly stopped and became quite tense. Flustered, he hurriedly said, "Ah...So-sorry. I have something urgent to do, I just remembered." He quickly turned around and started to walk.

"Please wait!" I reached out and grabbed his shoulder. I took a quick look around. Nobody but us two. He turned his head and looked nervously at me. I guess the rumors are true, beta testers aren't welcome anymore.

I let go of his shoulder and spoke in a reassuring voice, "Look, I'm not gonna make a scene and get you in trouble just because you're a beta tester. _Especially_ considering that you just helped me."

He was still pretty tense, but he didn't try to get away. After a few moments, he relaxed and sighed in relief. "Thanks, man. That means a lot to me."

I also relaxed my posture and chuckled. "Don't worry about it." My stomach grumbled a bit. He broke into a grin. "Speaking of things to worry about, can we get something to eat?" I asked meekly.

"Sure." He looked as if he just remembered something. "I've got just the thing."

 _ *****  
Loading...Complete  
*****_

"Bread, huh? This was the, uh, 'thing', you were talking about?" I asked hesitantly as I sat with him on a bench.

After we left the message board area, we went to Tolbana's center. Near the center, he led me to a small store, bought two pieces of black bread and gave one to me. It was worth 1 Col each, and while I'm not one to complain about free stuff, I took a small nibble, and it was hard and bland.

He gave me a slight grin and replied, "That's just one part. The real thing," he opened his Player Menu and brought out something from his Inventory, "Is this." He held out a small pot. "Here," He handed it to me, "Try using some of it on the bread."

"Alright." I took the pot and placed it on the bench. I tapped the lid and selected _Use_ from the menu that popped up. My hand glowed with a purple light, signaling Target Selection Mode, basically making me 'Use' the item on whatever I touch next. I touched the black bread.

With a small sound effect, the bread was coated with thick, white cream.

"Ooh, cream." I commented, slightly intrigued. He then used what's left inside the pot on the bread and started eating.

"Well, time to taste it." I took a big bite. Almost immediately, a sweet, delicious taste assaulted my senses. Compared to what I tasted earlier, it was like I was eating a whole different thing. I chewed slowly and swallowed.

"Wow." Was all I could say.

"I know, right?" He replied, his voice muffled as he still had bread in his mouth. He swallowed and continued, "It's a reward from a quest called Cow's Counterattack from a village near here."

"Oh, that quest? I've read that it's time-consuming and doesn't really have much for rewards, so I didn't bother playing it. Although, for what it's worth, this cream _is_ really good."

"Yeah, that's pretty accurate. If you want to do it, I can teach you some tips. You'll be able to finish it in two hours. Aside from the cream, the Col and XP rewards aren't half bad." He started rambling on again.

"Thanks, but I really should prepare for the boss fight first." I smiled at him. "Tell it to me after we beat the boss."

He grinned back. "Will do."

We spent a few minutes in silence, eating our dinner as the cold, night wind blew at us.

As I finished the last of my bread, I broke the silence. "Hey, I don't think we've properly introduced ourselves yet. Name's Riwet."

"…Kirito."

"Nice to meet you, Kirito-san."

"Likewise, Riwet-san. Also, just Kirito's fine."

"Thanks, Kirito. Also, just Riwet's fine, too."

We both chuckled and went silent again, taking in the scenery around us. There were a few players wandering about a good distance away from us, but we were alone in this area.

After a few moments, I glanced away from Kirito's direction. "Hey, Kirito...between...between beta testers and normal players...is the situation really that bad?" I asked in a low, cautious voice. Kirito looked down and smiled dryly.

"Yeah..."

"I see..." I paused, continuing slowly, "If...if it's okay with you...can you tell me how you've been handling it?"

He slowly raised his head and looked at me. "I think...considering everything...I was pretty lucky." He peeled his eyes away, looking solemnly at the buildings around us. "I've been playing solo even back during the beta, unless if it was absolutely necessary, so I'm pretty used to playing alone before the normal players started hating beta testers."

He explained further, "The reality of the situation is that we really want to help you guys, and that costs us. You heard the news, right? About how beta testers have higher mortality rates?" I nodded. "They're not lying. In order to give players the right advice, beta testers test what they know if it transfers onto the real game. From beta to full release, a lot of things might change. The reason why beta testers have higher mortality rates is because aside from exhaustively testing what they know, they prolong the fight to see if they missed anything, making them even more in danger."

I nodded in agreement, "As a wise person once told me, in the MMO world, if you have no knowledge, or worse, wrong knowledge of the game the results would not be pretty."

"Heh...yup." His lips curled into a smile for a moment, but quickly grew dim. "Speaking of my fellow beta testers, I'm honestly not really surprised if those kinds of rumors exist." He paused for a bit and clasped his hands. "Back when the game launched, I...made a friend, a normal player. When SAO turned into a death game, I offered to help make him stronger in a lot less time than most people would. He refused, saying that his friends were also playing SAO, and since he's their leader, he wanted to help them. I...left him and his friend behind...so that I can be stronger."

I listened silently. On one hand, it's pretty cold for him to leave, but on the other, the player was the one who refused. He continued, gripping his hands tightly. "A few hours after that...I accepted a quest and met another beta tester doing the same quest. The quest was to get an item which was dropped very rarely by strong mobs, so we decided to team up and get two of the rare items together."

Kirito's hands started shaking a bit, but he recomposed himself as he continued, "But when I got the quest item, he lured a big group of mobs and hid. He was planning on taking the quest item for himself after they killed me." he sighed, "I got out of that mess and completed the quest...he didn't. Been playing solo ever since." He flashed a self-mocking smile at me. "Maybe that's why I helped you, Riwet. I wanna feel good about myself for the decisions I made."

I shook my head and gave him a friendly smile "You're thinking too much, Kirito. You're a nice guy. The fact is that you got carried away when you helped me, and you ended up indirectly telling me that you're a beta tester. That sounds less like a selfish sociopath and more like a person who can't stop worrying about others."

"Well...that makes sense when you think about it that way." He replied. "You're right about the rambling, though. I tend to get pumped up about these kinds of things, and it's been forever since I actually had a conversation."

"Besides," I added, "Even if you do think that it's a selfish act, you still helped me. Not a bad deal when the worst case scenario is both of us gaining something." He pursed his lips and shrugged in agreement as I continued. "Quick question, though. Where's the part of your story that you, uh, got lucky?"

"The part where I lived?"

"Yeah, and the rest of it is you getting your ass handed to you." He shrugged again, this time in apathetic dismissal. "Unbelievable." I muttered.

We spent a few moments in silence. There were people walking by a good distance away from us, but we're left on our own in this part of the city. Not exactly the 'seedy' part, just the 'there's a bench and nothing much else' part.

I finally spoke up, "Hey, since I got to hear your story, wanna hear about mine? I'll start leveling up tomorrow, so I don't have anything much to do tonight."

"Sure." He replied, "I'm done for tonight, too. Lay it on me."

"Alright." I shifted about while sitting on the bench, stretching my limbs.

"Now, where to begin..." I started to remember the things that happened four weeks ago. "When SAO turned into a death game, I couldn't bring myself to do anything at all. For the first three days, I just spent my time walking around the Starting City in the day, and cooped up in my room at night, not being able to sleep because of nightmares. I then realized that I was unconsciously contemplating suicide." His eyes widened and peered at me at that. I gave him a reassuring glance. "Don't worry, as you can see, I didn't go through with it." He relaxed and continued on listening intently.

"Like you, I made a friend before SAO trapped us. But, I'm not sure what happened to him. He didn't look good the last time I saw him." My face darkened. "I wanted to talk to him, but I didn't know what to say, and I'm scared that bad memories will pop up if he saw me. We were together when Kayaba made the announcement. The least I could do is to stay away."

Sefton...I wonder what he's doing right now? I haven't had the chance to go back and check up on him...

"...when I realized that I staying in the Starting City was messing with my brain, I decided to head to Horunka, killing mobs and gaining XP doing so. I tried finding someone to team up with, but the street's deserted, and I don't wanna force the few poor souls walking around to help me." I smiled wistfully, remembering my closest encounter with death. "My first day...could've been better. It wat pretty close, like, "surrounded and in the red zone" close."

Kirito's eyes widened. "Seriously?"

"Yup. I let my guard down for whatever reason, _while alone inside hostile territory._ Yeah, pretty stupid of me. Next thing I know, I aggroed a total of five Dire Wolves. Two of them jumped me, and three came running right after I killed the two. I was able to kill the rest of them and enter Horunka, but I ended up with a broken shield, damaged armor, health in the red zone, and a chopped-off arm." I looked at my right arm. "Good news is, the loot I got from them was more than enough to replace what I broke, and then some. After that, things miraculously went smoothly. And here I am." I finished.

Kirito gave out a sigh. "Man, what a story. You're pretty tough. A lot of players died fighting even one Dire Wolf. You killed _twelve_ of them alone, five of them at _almost the same time!_ " he exclaimed.

"Yeah. I, too, got lucky. Lucky enough that I was able to pull through, and also lucky enough that I wasn't traumatized by that. After that happened, my nightmares slowly stopped, and I was actually looking forward to becoming even stronger." I stifled a yawn.

Kirito stood up and stretched. "Well, that's enough stories for now. You look tired. You should rest soon."

I stretched while sitting. "Yeah...I guess I'm done for tonight." Oh, I almost forgot to ask him. "Kirito, you'll also be participating in the fight, right?"

"Yup."

"Alright." I stood up and faced Kirito, sending him a friend request. He saw the notification and looked back at me. "It's been really fun talking to you." I shrugged.

"I feel the same way." He replied, and broke into a grin. "It's fun talking to me, too." I frowned for a second and smirked. His grin softened to a friendly smile as he accepted the request. "Seriously, though, it's also been a lot of fun talking to you, too."

"Thanks." I yawned and leaned my back against the bench. "Well, goodnight, Kirito."

"Goodnight, Riwet." He turned around and walked towards the busier part of the city.

As soon as he left, I suddenly felt very sluggish. It was like my body forgot that it was tired of all the fighting earlier in the day, and remembered it in one instant. Rubbing my eyes, I opened my Player Menu and checked my equipment. Potions are stockpiled and equipment is repaired and good to go. I went to my Friends tab. There were three names registered there as my Friends. Sefton, Klein, and Kirito.

I closed my Player Menu and stood up, groggily making my way to the inn.

Speaking of friends, I wonder how Klein's doing. Last time I saw him, he was pretty busy leveling up with his team. Regretfully, I haven't taken up his offer to team up. Hell, I haven't even partied with anyone yet. Since Kirito advised me to play in teams, maybe it's time that I do.

I reached my room, locked the door, and collapsed on the bed.

I really don't know why I like playing solo so much. I can handle casual conversations, and I'm comfortable with small talk. I don't really have any major trauma that prevents me from talking to people. So, why? Maybe it's because of the things I saw and heard through my life. Little things that shouldn't have mattered on their own, but accumulated throughout my life and made me jaded.

I closed my eyes and started to doze off.

Whatever the reason is, I'll just have to make sure that it's not going to be the cause of my death.

 *******  
 _ **Chapter End  
*****_

 **A/N:** Another chapter done.

Not sure how I feel about this one. I think I did well in giving more character to Kirito and Riwet, but it felt like a damn recap when Riwet started telling his tale.

That's all for now. Thank you very much, and have a good one.


	5. CH 5 - Organizational Behaviour

Chapter 5 - Organizational Behaviour

The Tolbana Forest, a forest area southeast of Tolbana, is a place I haven't been much before. It was covered in trees that stood as tall as the eye could see. Sunlight was partly blocked by the numerous branches, making the path develop an eerily muted atmosphere. The wildlife didn't help brighten the mood, either. Once in a while you'd hear the sharp, ruffling sound of disturbed plants, or feel like something nearby is watching you. Of course, once you've improved your Scanning skill tab, you're gonna notice that most of the sounds and disturbances are just stock forest sound effects, and the "things" watching you are natural formations that look very vaguely like a face.

Fortunately for me, my Scanning skill level's pretty high. It's still pretty unsettling, but the magic wears off once you can clearly separate the stock sounds from actual signs of movement. As a game location, it's a good place to level up if you're in a group. It's also possible, but tricky to farm XP alone, but I prefer leveling in the Labyrinth.

"It's glad to have you on board, Riwet." Klein said as we walked around, our group keeping close attention to the surroundings.

"Thanks for having me, Klein." I replied with a friendly smile.

Earlier today, I messaged Klein, asking him if I could tag along. Of course, he agreed to take me with him and join his team in leveling. I owe him one. We're now a team of seven. After introducing myself, Klein laid out our plans for the day, which was to help the lower-leveled Players in our group to be stronger. Aside from Klein and Dale, this was our first time in here.

Word on the street is, the mobs here give 50% more XP if you're in a group. Klein and his second-in-command, Dale, checked it out a few days ago and found that it was true. Klein told me that that's how he normally scouts for leveling locations.

"Seriously, you only partied once?" Dynamm chimed in. He was a typical Sword and Shield user. He was one of the lower-leveled Players.

"Yep."

"And your level's higher than ours?"

"That's right."

"...how?"

"I...didn't have to share XP with anyone."

"But still, I can't even imagine playing solo in this damn death game. Aren't you scared of fighting alone?"

"...it's scary, but I got used to it. You just gotta keep a good safety margin and pay attention."

"Oh, you're doing those, now?" Klein asked, grinning.

"Yep." I replied, also smirking back at him. Dynamm and the others looked at me, confused. Oh, they didn't know. I shrugged. "Yeah, long story short, I lost an arm and went into the red zone when I traveled from the Starting City to Horunka. All because I got lost in thought." I grinned as I added, "You could say that I learned it the hard way." Klein chuckled while the rest of the group looked shocked.

"Well, if you didn't learn from that, you're a bona fide idiot." Klein finally commented. "You guys find anything?" His team shook their heads. Our group was purposefully making noise to attract mobs. We didn't come here just to admire the scenery.

"Nope. There's nothin-" I started to reply, but I paused, something catching my attention. Unnatural and noticeable rusting emanated nearby. Turning my head, I narrowed my eyes, squinting at the source of the sound, my senses amplified by my Scanning skill. Now that I'm looking closely, I could clearly see the enemy mob.

I jerked my head to the mob's direction. "Over there, guys."

They turned their heads and tensed up at what we saw. We slowly unsheathed our weapons.

"They're getting closer. They're aggroed to us." Dynamm said nervously.

"Sure looks like it." Klein replied. "Relax. We've got tons of potions and antidotes." He pointed behind us. "There's a clearing over there. Let's go and lure them to the clearing. We'll fare better out in the open."

"Good idea. Let's go, let's go." I stayed behind a bit, letting the rest of the group go first.

Since I've been leveling alone, I had the highest level and Skill Proficiency out of all of us. Klein and Dale weren't far off from me. The rest of them need a bit more time on the battlefield. There were also four more people in Klein's group, but he told me that they're still a bit too jumpy when it comes to fighting monsters, so they're training in easier areas.

We reached the clearing. It was pretty wide. It was also pretty empty. There were no trees that would block swings, and no branches, roots or other large plants that could trip us. I took a quick scan of the surroundings. Other than the ones already aggroed to us, there were no other enemies present. Perfect.

Eventually, the mob ventured out of the shadows and into the clearing. Once they're out in the open, I got an even closer look at the bastards.

Almost a month of playing SAO, I was grateful of not encountering this monster alone. They were called Pestilent Nepenthes. They resemble the classic Pokémon Victreebel, basically a cup or pitcher with a mouth on top of it. But that's where the similarities ended. Instead of being just a bit tough-looking like Victreebel, these Nepenthes were intimidating and _freaking disgusting_. Its lower body consisted of numerous roots that it uses to slither around like a spider. It had arm-like vines attached to either side of its body, its "hands" resembling a Venus flytrap. But the worst part of its looks was its "second mouth" located at the front of its body. Instead of having, like, barbs or spines, it resembled a human mouth. It had rotting teeth that were partly enclosed by crimson lips, curved into a nasty smile.

"Gross." I couldn't help but comment, as three of them crawled towards us.

"Yep." Klein replied, his face turned serious. He then called out to the group. "Dynamm, Riwet, you're with me. The rest of you split up from us. Try to draw aggro from one of 'em."His group nodded and broke away from us. One of the Nepenthes followed the other group, while the two were still targeting us.

"Alright, Riwet, Dynamm. Remember to watch out for its Paralyze attacks." Klein reminded us.

"Right." Dynamm replied attentively as I nodded quietly.

As we braced ourselves, the three Nepenthes lunged at us, with surprising speed. Not as fast as Dire Wolves, but considering their size, they were pretty fast. Must be the additional limbs.

 *****  
** _ **Cue Music: Persona 3 OST - Mass Destruction  
**_ *******

I darted to the side, catching the two Nepenthes' attention. I faked an attack to get a reaction out of them. They took the bait. As soon as one of them lashed its tentacles at me, I used my halberd to parry and jumped out of the way of the attacks I couldn't parry. Once both Nepenthes were adequately distracted, Klein and Dynamm unleashed their strongest Weapon Skills they had on one. Klein, a Katana user, let loose a devastating three-hit combo, his Katana whistling in the air as he swung it in wide, slashing arcs with both hands, rending the mob's flesh. Dynamm, with his trusty sword, attacked with a three-hit combo of his own, which, compared to Klein's, was modest, but it still did quite a bit of damage.

"Oh come on, you gotta be kidding me!" Klein exclaimed.

Unfortunately, despite the impressive show of strength, Klein and Dynamm couldn't close the deal. The Nepenthe survived with so little health that its health bar was essentially empty. Shifting targets, the two Nepenthes turned around, their mouths closing and ballooning. _Oh, crap_. Klein and Dynamm were still stuck in post-motion delay and cannot dodge.

Gritting my teeth, I decided to pull back the aggro towards me. Running towards them, I tried to make as much noise as I can, trying to catch their attention. It worked – the Nepenthes froze a bit. I held my halberd with both hands and intentionally missed, slamming the ground very close to the Nepenthe.

"Dynamm, now!" I shouted. With the Nepenthes solely trained to me, Dynamm finished the job with a quick swipe. After an explosion of particles, the Nepenthe was no more.

One down, two to go. Even better, Dynamm both dealt massive damage to the mob and got the Last Hit Bonus. That, and adding the Group XP Bonus, Dynamm received a massive amount of XP.

"Riwet, look out!" Klein shouted.

While that was going on, the other Nepenthe shifted its attention back to me, its mouth disgustingly ballooned. Uh oh. I hurriedly dodged to the side, but my feet sort of slipped slightly, so I wasn't able to cover a lot of distance. Its mouth opened, spitting out a wet ball of poison the size of a basketball. I narrowly avoided being hit directly, but once its toxic spit hit the ground, it exploded, showering the nearby area, including me, with toxic, purple fluid.

The fluid splattered onto me. The armor I wore caught some of the poison, but so did my face, and the unarmored parts of my body, which stained my clothes and still came into contact with my skin. My HUD told me that I was now suffering from a status effect, Paralysis.

Almost immediately, I felt the effects. I rapidly lost control of my body, barely keeping myself standing. With as much effort as I could muster, I tried taking a step, but my body swayed, and I started to fall. Before I hit the ground, the Nepenthes' arm bit into my body and lifted me up in the air. With a high-pitched screech, it slammed be back into the ground, making a small crater. My halberd flew off of my hands.

"Riwet!" I heard Klein and Dynamm call out my name. My HP went down by a quarter total. Ironically, due to the poison, I didn't feel the pain from its teeth digging into my sides. What I _did_ feel was the back of my head hitting the ground. And boy did _that_ hurt.

"I'm okay!" I shouted in a pained voice. The Nepenthe let go, turned around and whipped its arms towards Klein and Dynamm. Thankfully, they completely dodged it and were on their way to help me. I focused my mind, activating Battle Healing.

Paralysis is prevalent and deadly status effect. For a player to be afflicted with this debuff, they need to be hit with a toxic attack. That toxic attack can range from being slashed by fangs, claws, or even weapons coated with poison, to inhaling poisonous fumes and, in my case, being splatted by basketball-sized toxic loogies. Its effects are also numerous. The first ten seconds is full body paralysis, but you can still talk and make very slight movements if you try hard enough. After that, you'll regain control of your arms. When thirty seconds pass, you'll regain control of the rest of your body, but you're still sluggish until a total of ten minutes pass. What's worse is that even if you have an antidote, that'll just cut the duration by 75%, leaving you with a minute of sloppy movement. You need someone else to use an antidote on you to immediately cure it.

Fortunately, Battle Healing doesn't suffer a penalty nor require any movement. Just gotta concentrate and you can activate it. Still immobilized, I took a quick look at how the other team's handling the Nepenthe. From what I could see, they were doing pretty well. All of their HP were still in the green, but the Nepenthe's HP was halfway gone.

"Dynamm, you're doing well!"

Klein's voice snapped me back to the issue at hand. They were pretty good at dodging the tentacles, but they're getting pretty tired. I gotta do something.

The numbing around my arms subsided, and I was able to move it again. I hurriedly produced a bottle of antidote from my inventory and splashed its contents to my body. Being able to control my legs again, I slowly stood up, searching for where my halberd ended up, which was too far out of the action. I sluggishly ran toward the fight, drawing out my knife.

The Nepenthe got a good hit at Klein, forcing him to his knees. Dynamm swooped in and took the next hit targeted at Klein. His shield absorbed most of the damage, but he was also forced to kneel from the impact. No time left now. I took aim with my knife, activating my Blade Throwing Skill.

In SAO, Throwing is a very basic skill. It's what it says on the tin - you throw your weapon at a target. It causes good damage, but I haven't leveled it because it costs quite a bit of Col. Thrown weapons take a massive hit in durability and thus needs to be repaired. Shops also sell weapons designed specifically for throwing, but they're single-use and expensive.

The system recognized my motion, and my knife was covered with a greenish-blue light as it left my hand, flying towards the Nepenthe. In my horror, the Nepenthe darted to the side. I missed its body. Miraculously, I nailed one of its arms and destroyed it, sending the plant reeling. Not wasting the opportunity, Klein and Dynamm recovered and unleashed their strongest Weapon Skills. This time, though, the Nepenthe was cleanly and completely obliterated, with Dynamm getting the Last Hit Bonus again.

 _ *****  
End Music  
*****_

Shortly afterward, we heard a scream. Our other group killed the third Nepenthe, but they also sustained quite a bit of damage. Exasperated, I sat down on the grass. Klein rushed towards me, using an antidote to fully cure me of Paralysis. As he was helping me up, Dynamm retrieved my halberd and gave it back. We headed back, getting my knife while on the way to rejoining the other group.

"Good work for today!" Dale exclaimed, looking more exhausted than the rest of his team, probably covering for them.

"Likewise!" I replied.

After that fiasco, we hunted for mobs till sunset. The other encounters went better than the first. The mobs were killed efficiently and nobody got seriously hurt. This continued for a few days until the night before the meeting for the first-floor boss raid.

As for the results, everyone leveled up. In fact, Dynamm and the other lower-leveled players in the leveled up so much that the gap between them and the rest of the team got really short. As for me, I leveled up to 11. We celebrated on a pub, happy to be alive.

As the sun disappeared and darkness dominated the sky, I yawned for a bit, feeling a bit tired.

"Tired?" Dynamm asked.

"Yeah."

Klein chuckled. "In all seriousness, Riwet...you, and the rest of the group did very well these past few days."

"Thanks."

"Honestly speaking, I don't think that we're ready yet for a boss fight, so we're not gonna participate in this raid. We still need to train more. Lots more. But you...you've improved a lot. Are you sure that you're gonna join the raid?" I nodded. Klein raised his drink bottle. "Then, here's to your safety, as well as the safety of everyone else participating the First Floor Boss raid!"

"Cheers!" We shouted and drank.

"Alright, go and get some rest. You've earned it." Klein declared.

"Yeah go get 'em!" "Good luck!" "Stay safe!" The rest of them exclaimed.

"Thanks, guys!" I left the pub and went straight to my inn. And just like that, the deadline approached.

 _ *****  
Loading...Complete.  
*****_

Tolbana, due to being close to the Labyrinth, was designed to be a very busy city. It was bustling with activity everywhere, from players busy preparing for their venture, to NPCs idly walking by. However, there's one part of Tolbana that's usually quiet. At the center of the city lies an amphitheater. This place is devoid of NPCs and serves as a meeting ground by players. Today, however, is not just a normal meeting.

I opened my Player Menu, checking my stuff as I sat on the very back row. It was a couple of minutes before the meeting started, and people were trickling in and settling down on the seats. Eventually, I saw Kirito taking a seat on the back row far away from me. Beside him sat a player covered with a dark red hooded cape. I couldn't completely see the player's face, but judging by the body shape and height, the player's probably female. Realizing that, I stopped ogling at her and went back to checking my own stuff.

Eventually, a player climbed up and stood on the center stage. I closed my Player Menu, sat upright and focused my attention on the player. He was wearing bulky armor and had a longsword strapped to his waist and some kind of shield strapped to his back. He had blue eyes, long, blue hair, and blue clothes under his armor, except for his pants, which were white. His blue was a lot lighter compared to my navy blue getup.

Wait a minute. I've been running around inside cities with my weapons unequipped and stored inside my inventory, except for my knife which wasn't really annoying to carry on my person. I took a quick look around and found that everyone's got their weapons equipped. It's not the most comfortable and necessary thing to do right now, but I guess I should do the same. I brought out my halberd and spear and strapped them on my back as the blue-haired player began to speak.

"Good morning, everyone. Thank you for coming to this meeting." He greeted us with a firm voice and continued, "My name is Diavel. I like to consider my 'job' as a knight." He said as he confidently pumped his chest with his fist.

"There's no job system here, man!" "Come on, take this seriously!" "Screw 'Knight', you really wanted to say 'hero', right?" The players jeered and clapped at him as he awkwardly rubbed the back of his head. Nice way of breaking the tension. After a moment, his posture straightened and his face turned serious. The change was noticed by everyone, and the commotion died down.

"As you know, there was the Message my team and I posted on the Message Boards a few days ago. About how the First Floor Boss was found. Initially, I wanted to have a meeting as soon as we found it, but I know that even though word gets around, it takes some time to prepare. As we are gathered here today, I believe we have prepared enough!" A lot of players nodded. Diavel raised his hand and pointed to the Labyrinth. "Tomorrow, we will reach the First Floor Boss room!"

The players cheered. I was also pretty pumped at his speech. He lowered his hands and looked at us directly. "One month. It took us one month to come this far. Even so, we have to set an example! By killing the boss, we show that this death game can be cleared! That is our obligation! To inspire the other players into action! To prove that we are not powerless! And that we _are_ in control of our destiny! And that whatever happens, we can and will clear this game! WHO'S WITH ME?!"

The crowd exploded into a cacophony of cheering. I raised my hands vigorously. Man, that Diavel guy can really work up a crowd. As the noise died down, Diavel continued, "Alright, let's take a couple of minutes and break down this crowd into parties."

Uh oh. I looked around nervously. I did not know these people, and it seemed like a lot of them already formed their groups. I looked at Kirito, and he seemed pretty alarmed, too. He looked at where I was sitting and nodded at me. I stood up and made my way to him.

"Hey." I sat beside him.

"Hey." He replied.

"So, can I party with you?"

"Yeah, sure." Kirito then turned his head towards the hooded player sitting beside him. "It's okay, right?"

"...does he know?" The player asked quietly.

"Yeah." Kirito replied. Do I know what? Noticing my confused stare, he replied to me in a whisper. "It was if you knew that I was a beta tester. She doesn't want you to cause a commotion."

'She', huh? The hooded player looked at me and nodded before looking away. Kirito sent me an invite to join the party.

I accepted. "Thank you very much, Kirito." I turned to the hooded player and bowed my head slightly. "Nice to meet you."

She nodded back and replied, "Likewise."

My HUD was updated with the names of my party members. Aside from Kirito, another name was included – Asuna. I guess her name's Asuna.

"Should we go look for more party members?" I asked.

"All of them look like they've formed parties already." Asuna replied. I took a look at the crowd. Sure seemed like that.

"Alright, you guys finished?" Diavel called out. Then-"

"Just a second!" A player called out from the crowd. He then jumped to the stage. He had cactus styled brown hair and an evil-looking goatee. He smugly pointed his thumb to himself and started talking.

"My name is Kibaou. I wanna say something before we take on the boss." He pointed at the crowd. "Some of you here need to apologize to the two thousand players that died so far!"

The crowd was shocked. I don't like where this is going. Diavel spoke quietly, "Kibaou-san, are you referring to the beta testers?"

"Of course I am!" He replied angrily. "On this day this stupid game started, the beta testers ditched us, and they all disappeared. They kept what they know and hoarded the good spots, caring only for themselves. The news of them dying is lies! All lies!" He pointed again to the crowd. "I know that there are beta testers in here somewhere! You should get on your knees and apologize, and give up all the items and money they've hoarded!" He crossed his arms. "Otherwise, we can't trust them to protect us as party members! That's all I want to say!"

The crowd was silent. I looked beside me. Kirito was sweating and shaking. I held his shoulder. "You know that what he's saying is bullshit, right? Beta testers had a higher mortality rate than normal players. That's the truth. Even with all of the discrimination, you still helped me. You have no obligation to even entertain people who spit on your face when you try to help them." I whispered to him.

As that was happening, a rich, commanding baritone voice permeated the silence.

"May I speak?" The voice asked. I tracked the sound to the figure slowly walking towards the stage. Boy, oh boy, did the voice match the body. He was huge, towering over Kibaou as he stood in front of him. He had a chiseled face, bald head, and dark skin. Definitely not Japanese. He wore a large chest plate and a sleeveless shirt underneath the armor, accentuating his well-toned body. He was also carrying a large battleaxe in his back.

He bowed to the audience. "My name is Agil." he turned around and faced Kibaou. "Kibaou-san, you're saying that because the beta testers didn't care for them, a lot of beginners died, that they should take responsibility, apologize, and provide compensation, correct?"

"Th-That's right." Kibaou replied, still intimidated by Agil's size. He looked like a freaking kid when he stood close to the big guy. After a few seconds, he began to recompose himself. He was about to start ranting again when Agil held out his hand, showing Kibaou what looked like the Player Guidebook.

"This is the Player Guidebook, given to players free of charge at any item store the day SAO launched. You have it, right Kibaou-san?"

"Yeah...yeah, I do." Kibaou slowly agreed. "What about it?"

"This book," Agil pointed at the book, "Has information regarding the first floor as a whole. In spite of that, it came out the first day. Don't you think that's too fast, Kibaou-san?"

"Again, what about it?"

"The ones who provided monster info and map data in this, cannot be anyone other than the original beta testers."

The crowd started murmuring. From what I could tell, the majority of players present at least agreed that the information was unnaturally quick to be gathered.

Kibaou, however, was apparently blind to reason. He pointed at the book Agil was holding. "Th-th-that's not enough of a proof! I-It's probably an item included in the game!"

"The proof is in the Afterword section." Agil calmly replied. He then turned to the audience. "For those with a Player Guidebook, I request you to take a look for yourself." I quickly withdrew my Player Guidebook from my inventory and started looking for the Afterword section. Most of the audience did the same.

I felt someone tap my shoulder. "Hey Riwet, can I also take a look? I don't have one." Kirito asked.

"Sure." I replied. Eventually, we found the section and the proof.

 _Don't forget! Information in this edition of the Guidebook is subject to change. It's from the beta, after all.-Argo_

"Argo...you sly devil." Kirito murmured, flabbergasted.

"You know him?" I asked.

"Yeah, I do. And it's a 'her'. As the book implies, she's a beta tester, really good with gathering information. But in the beta, she's notorious for only giving info in exchange for Col. Lots of Col." He replied, reminiscent.

I can't believe that I missed this detail. Looks like I'm more indebted to beta testers like Kirito and this 'Argo' person after all.

"Did everyone find it?" Agil's voice was audible, despite the crowd's murmuring. We nodded. "We all have this information, and still, many people died. While some of the information's outdated, we cannot deny that this book helped us immensely. But, Kibaou-san, this is not the time to point fingers and pass blame."

Diavel stepped forward. "He's right, Kibaou-san. It's about time we look forward. We need the strength of everyone here to fight the boss, regardless of whether they're beta testers or normal players." He held his hand out. "Our obligation to the people comes first and foremost. If we remove the beta testers, and the raid fails because of that, then what's the point?" He swept his eyes at the crowd. "It's understandable if you have preferences, but if you are absolutely against teaming up with a beta tester for the sake of clearing the first floor, then...it would be unfortunate, but you are free to leave. Teamwork is absolutely essential, especially when dealing with a boss." His eyes stopped at Kibaou, gazing at him intently.

Kibaou silently stepped away from the stage and sat. Agil also went back to his seat. When it was clear that nobody planned to leave, Diavel spoke up again. "Now, where were we? Oh, that's right. Has everyone formed a party?" Everybody nodded. "Alright, then. According to the Guidebook, the boss' name is Illfang the Kobold Lord. He is armed with an axe and shield. He has four health bars, and when the last one enters the red, he switches to a curved sword-type weapon called a Talwar, and he also changes his attack pattern. He is also escorted by Ruin Kobold Sentinels throughout the battle. As Agil-san said, this was from the beta, so take the information with a grain of salt, and plan accordingly. We'll divide the parties tomorrow into three groups, one to tank the boss' attacks, one to deal damage to the boss, and one to handle the other monsters."

Silent murmuring was heard again. Diavel closed his Guidebook. "Lastly, EXP goes to the party that kills the monsters, and whoever gets an item can keep it. Any objections? "The crowd was silent. "Then, we'll meet again here tomorrow, and leave Tolbana at ten in the morning. This concludes our meeting!" He made a sweeping motion with his arms.

"Dismissed!"

 _ *****  
Scene Break. Loading...Complete.  
*****_

The night was particularly lively in the streets of Tolbana. The parties were, well, having a bit of a 'party', with drinks and food all around. I saw Kibaou and Diavel drinking together at the center of it. Everyone was smiling, determined to take the first real step in clearing the game.

Immediately after Diavel dismissed the meeting, Asuna left without even saying anything. Kirito also left, saying that he needed to do something quick and asking to let him know if anything happens. He also asked if he can have my Player Guidebook, which I agreed and gave it to him. I can always get one at a store for free. After both of them are gone, Diavel proposed to have a celebration to increase morale.

After a short while, I left the party and took a walk. Parties aren't really my thing. I messaged Kirito about it, and he replied that he wasn't interested. Asuna...well...she's probably not interested either.

I saw Kirito sitting on a bench, checking his Player Menu.

I came closer to him. "Hey." I greeted and sat beside him.

"Hey." Kirito greeted back.

"Ready for tomorrow?"

"Yup. How about you?"

"Also ready, but just a little question with our plan."

"Ask away."

"Did Diavel intend it to be that simple and straightforward? Just separate the parties into three groups?"

"As far as I can tell, yeah."

"What do you think of the plan, as a whole?"

"A bit too simple, but certainly the most practical plan." Kirito replied matter-of-factly.

Curious, I leaned in. "How did it go in the beta?"

"This was also what we did to beat the first-floor boss back in the beta. Illfang and the Ruin Kobold Sentinels have straightforward attack patterns. Strong, but predictable. You can easily tell that an attack is coming, so if you're paying attention you can dodge it easily. The first few times we fought him, we actually overcomplicated it. This plan's gonna work smoothly. Plus, it's flexible enough to handle surprises that weren't there in the beta."

"Also, it's simple enough that it won't fall apart easily even if things go wrong."

"Exactly." Kirito materialized the Player Guidebook I gave him and stared at it. "I quickly skimmed it. From what I could tell, most of the relevant information written here is still the same, concerning the first floor."

"Nice. Also, why didn't you have one?"

"I have, it's just a bit different." He stored the Guidebook and pulled out a different book. "This was a guidebook I bought from Argo. The contents are identical, except that it has no Afterword section. And I had to pay quite a bit for it" He smirked. "Ever the saleswoman, that Argo."

"I see." I sighed and looked at the street in front on us. "It feels a bit unreal, you know. Almost a month ago, I was still curled up in my room. Now, I'm a 'clearer'."

"And tomorrow, you're going to be facing your greatest enemy yet." Kirito added.

"True, that." I looked behind us and did a double take. Is that...? Yep, there she is. Asuna's sitting alone on a bench not too far away, her back covered by the leather cape she was wearing. I haven't seen that kind of hooded cape being worn by anyone else in Tolbana besides Asuna.

Kirito withdrew a piece of black bread. The guy sure loves his bread and cream. "Dinnertime."

I stood up. "Yep, time for me to get some grub and hit the sack."

Kirito smirked. "Not gonna keep me company? That's cold of you." He said in a comically sad voice.

"I wanna take a bit of a walk, build my appetite. Also, you bailed on me after the meeting. I can't work my magic without a wingman, you know?" I couldn't keep a straight face on the last part, and both of us chuckled. I recomposed myself. "Besides," I motioned towards Asuna's direction, "Looks like somebody needs your company right now."

Kirito turned around and saw Asuna. "Uhhhh, you got my back, right, wingman?"

I tried to make a serious face. "I said to keep her company, not ask her out. This is not the time to flirt, you know." keyword being 'tried', as my face cracked into a smile. Man, I gotta work on my poker face. I gathered myself and smiled. "Come on, the worst thing she could do to you is ignore you."

"Oh, she'll do a lot more that ignore me if I piss her off, that's for sure." Kirito replied nervously and looked at Asuna. "Buuut...she does look a bit lonely." He looked at me. "You sure you don't wanna tag along or something?"

"Nope, I'm good."

"Alright, then. See you tomorrow, Riwet."

"Likewise. See you tomorrow, Kirito." I walked away. When I rounded a corner, I stopped, turned around and peeked at what Kirito's doing. He got out from his seat and was talking to Asuna. Well, at least they're talking.

I really wanted to know what'll happen next, but I didn't wanna snoop. Besides, my stomach's grumbling. I turned around and started to look for something to eat.

I went inside a restaurant and ate a bowl of noodles for cheap.

…

It tasted bland.

It's a big day tomorrow. I hope it doesn't turn to shit.

 _ *****  
Chapter End  
*****_

 **A/N:** That's all for now. Thank you very much, and have a good one.


	6. CH 6 - Illfang

Chapter 6 - Illfang

 _December 6, 2022_

The First Floor Boss Room was a very spacious area, basically a huge hallway with pillars on the side barely taking up space. Despite there being no torches, it was naturally bright. The walls were covered by this strange, bright formations. They were smooth and round, and were radiating light that changed color as the surface sort of rippled vibrantly. It was like stained glass, but opaque and saturated.

This boss room was also home to Illfang the Kobold Lord, and his Ruin Kobold Sentinels. Beyond the room lies the 2nd floor. While the raid tactics are simple enough, you know it's going to be a grueling battle when you need 45 players to stand a decent chance.

At about 10am, the clearers met again in Tolbana's amphitheater. We then divided ourselves into three groups. Group A, the DPS group, will deal damage to Illfang. Group B, the tanking group, will aggro and soak up the damage from Illfang and create openings for the DPS group to really get the damage going. Lastly, Group C, the extermination group, of which my party belonged to, will take care of the Sentinels. After making sure that everything is in order, we set out for the Labyrinth's boss room.

The way there was uneventful. Turns out, a group of 45 people could make short work of weaker mobs. Eventually, we reached the Labyrinth, and after some more walking, we stood at the front of the boss room's enormous double doors.

After almost a month of being trapped in a death game, we, the clearers, finally took our first big step towards clearing the game. The stage was set. The actors were ready. Too bad the director wasn't there. I don't blame him. I'd slit his throat if he dared to show up, and that'd be doing him a favor.

After giving another rousing speech, Diavel opened the door. Illfang and his lackeys roared. Diavel roared back with the same intensity in his voice, commanding us to attack.

And with that, the battle started.

 *******  
 _ **Cue Music: Deadmau5 – Ghosts 'n Stuff – Instrumental Mix  
*****_

I charged towards one of the Sentinels which was isolated from the group, holding my halberd one-handed and hacking and stabbing at it relentlessly. The mob parried and evaded all of my attacks. The bastard's pretty fast, considering that it's wrapped in armor. The Sentinel retaliated using its own halberd with predictable but damaging attacks, which I either parried or completely evaded.

"Riwet, wait for u-d-dammit!" I heard Kirito's voice in the distance. I looked behind me and saw him and Asuna making their way towards me, but was blocked by another Sentinel. I looked back at my target and found a rather huge axe about to touch my face. I ducked my head downwards, the blade whooshing by mere inches above. I grit my teeth and activated Linear. It hit it straight at the center and reduced its HP by a quarter. I tried to follow up, but the Sentinel lashed out and I had to back away. After exchanging a flurry of blows, I nailed one of its legs but it also swung and hit my shoulder. While it was reeling, I jumped back and activated Battle Healing. I was about to re-engage when I sensed someone approaching from behind me.

"Settle down for a bit." Kirito said as he and Asuna broke through and caught up to me. Other members of Group C were engaging the Sentinels near us. "At the very least let us know what you're gonna do."

"Sorry. Muscle memory." I admitted. And I just finished training in a team, too. Dammit.

"Don't do it again." Asuna said sternly.

"Yes, ma'am."

"You're one to talk." Kirito commented quietly. Asuna heard him and glared at him. Kirito hurriedly changed the subject. "A-anyway! Let's finish this one off." He formed a stance, ready for a Weapon Skill. I also got ready to dish out my moves.

"I'll break its guard." Asuna said. As we nodded at her, she turned into a blur. Next thing I know, the Sentinel's reeling at half HP. Kirito and I froze for a bit, but we were able to kill it quickly by simultaneously hitting it with our respective Weapon Skills.

After a few tense moments, the Sentinels were wiped out.

"Sentinels are dead!" I shouted to the other group. They were doing amazing at handling Illfang, with the tanks handling its attacks and the damage dealers coming in and hitting it where it hurts.

"More are coming shortly!" Diavel replied. As we drank potions and got ready, I took a look at the boss' HP. It had 4 health bars, and one of them was almost depleted. According to the Guidebook, a wave of Ruin Kobold Sentinels would spawn at the start of the fight, and for every time one of Illfang's HP bar was depleted.

On cue, the mobs came out of the woodwork the moment Illfang's first bar was depleted. Even though we were expecting them, they appeared so suddenly that our group got caught off guard.

More lambs to the slaughter. Let's do this.

"Aaah!" A white-haired female player let out a pained shout, blocking a bone-crushing blow from a Ruin Kobold Sentinel. This Sentinel, plus the other ones that spawned, were a bit different from the ones at the beginning. Instead of halberds, they were equipped with two-handed maces on a stick. She was separated from her party when they were ganged up by two of the bastards, and one of them managed to isolate her. The attack shaved quite a bit off of her HP.

Damn. Even though her block was on the spot, she was still considerably damaged. The blow also knocked her on her knees. Kirito told me that large or blunt impact weapons, like the ones held by the recently-spawned Sentinels, will mess you up even if you block it. _Especially_ if you block it. I grit my teeth and glanced at my right arm that was holding my shield. As I swung my arm to store the shield to my back, I looked at Kirito and Asuna, darting my eyes towards the player and hoping that they would understand my intention. Fortunately, they nodded, and I made my move.

"Get behind me!" I joined the fray, positioning myself between the two and activating Three Talon Strike, holding my halberd with both hands. I started with two simple diagonal slashes, with the mob deflecting both attacks perfectly. To finish, I swung upwards with all of the strength I could gather. While the Sentinel was able to block my final hit using the body of its weapon, it split the weapon's shaft and caused the monster to stagger, open for an attack.

"Nice!" Kirito followed-up my attack with one of his own, letting loose a powerful three-hit Weapon Skill, which hit critically and sent the monster reeling even more.

"Hyaah!" Asuna shouted as she thrust her rapier outwards, unleashing a Linear that was ridiculously fast. The only way that I could tell that it was a Linear was because of her stance after the motion. She moved so fast that she might as well be a flash of light. The mob flew backwards, ate dirt, and disintegrated.

"They're packing maces now, so they'll damage you a lot even if you're blocking! Try to dodge them instead!" I hastily told the player. "I'll cover you for now, so use a potion, quick!"

"R-right! Thank you!" She replied as she gathered herself and hurriedly drank a high-quality potion. After a few seconds, she regrouped with her party and they killed a couple of the mobs. I nodded to them and ran closer to the center of the battlefield, where Kirito and Asuna were making short work of the last mob left.

"Sentinels are done!" One of my groupmates shouted at the other groups.

"Everyone's doing well!" Diavel shouted. "Regroup and get ready for the next wave!" The extermination group nodded and prepared ourselves. As I used handfuls of repair powder to keep my gear's durability at max, I took a look at Illfang's HP. It was just below half. Then, Illfang roared loudly at the two groups.

"Get ready, here comes the slam attack!" Someone from the DPS group shouted.

Illfang raised its massive axe and brought it down to the tanking group with frightening speed. Miraculously, everyone in the tanking group dodged it by the skin of their teeth. But even then, the impact of its attack making contact with the ground created a shock wave so intense that even I felt it from where I stood, and I was a fair distance away. If a player was hit by that directly, I'd imagine his avatar turning to freaking mush.

"NOW!" Diavel shouted. Roaring loudly, the DPS group sprinted towards Illfang, which was stuck in post-motion delay, and all of them unleashed their Weapon Skills on its legs. After all the attacks connected, Illfang lost its balance and tumbled headfirst into the ground. Seizing this opportunity, both the DPS group and tanking group unloaded on Illfang with a flurry of more Weapon Skills. Eventually, its second HP was fully depleted.

"Here they come!" I shouted as the Sentinels spawned, this time armed with sharper-looking halberds. Emboldened by what I saw, I charged headfirst into the fray.

 _ *****  
Interruption. Pause Music  
*****_

Now, I know what you're thinking – what could possibly go wrong? Well, at least, that was what I thought. The following events will be broken down in seconds to highlight the effects of human stupidity.

One: I realized that I've charged at it alone. I turned my head for an instant and saw Asuna and Kirito, cut-off by Sentinels. Oh boy, they looked _pissed_.

Two: I turned my head back and activated a Linear at my target. Maybe if I kill this bastard ASAP they won't be as mad, right?

Three: The Sentinel dodged my Weapon Skill and backed away slightly. I tried to follow up but it maintained a distance close enough that it can hit me with its two-handed halberd, but far enough that my comparably shorter halberd couldn't hit it back.

Four: Getting irritated, I darted forward recklessly, trying my damnedest to skewer the slippery bastard, to no avail.

Five: I was too focused on hitting it that I made a sloppy swing and left myself wide open. It moved its arms to attack. Feeling that I couldn't dodge or parry the attack with my halberd, I raised my right arm, which was holding my shield, to try and block it.

Six: In a moment of unprecedented clarity, I realized that I forgot to re-equip my shield.

Seven: As he cleaved through my gauntleted right arm, I lost my footing and fell backwards. As I picked myself up, Kirito and Asuna came to my rescue.

 _ *****  
Interruption End. Resume Music  
*****_

"You idiot." I heard Asuna mutter.

"Sorry." I replied sheepishly as I looked at my right arm, which was cut off at the elbow. Asuna faced the Sentinel, her rapier drawn and pointed at the mob. I activated Battle Healing and was getting ready to back her up when Kirito held out his and stopped me.

"No. Get back and recover," Kirito hastily ordered.

"But I can still-"

"Before you run forward and lose your _other_ arm."

"…right. Sorry." I relented, embarrassed. As the two of them took over, I hung back, walking closer to the other people who were also healing themselves. I was gradually losing HP due to the Body Part Loss debuff, but that stopped once I drank a potion. All that's left is to wait for a couple of minutes for my arm to grow back. Goddammit man, what a way to screw up.

I looked at the battlefield. Most of the Sentinels were still alive, but they were damaged by quite a bit. Illfang's third HP bar was slowly being whittled away, and the Tanking group was still doing an impressive job with aggroing it and neutralizing its attack. We're halfway done, and even though there were players like me who got banged up, there were no casualties on our side. Perfect.

The minutes ticked by. More of Illfang's HP was getting depleted, and more of the Sentinels were dying. I almost had a heart attack when I saw one player charge in recklessly and fall on his back, and I breathed a sigh of relief when another player swooped in to cover him. Wasn't that the girl I protected earlier? Whatever. A couple more minutes before the debuff expires. Come on, go faster. I wanna get back into it. Hopefully, without losing any more limbs.

As my right arm was restored, only a handful of Sentinels remained. I unequipped my halberd, reequipped my shield and drew out my knife, and rushed to where Kirito and Asuna were fighting. Time for approach number 2.

"I'm good to go!" I reported to Kirito, who noticed my change in weapons. "For versatility." I said as I threw my knife in the air and caught it.

"I see." Kirito replied and motioned to the Sentinel. "Then, create an opening for us."

"Leave it to me." I walked towards the Sentinel, catching its attention. Alright, even if this weapon's not my main, I still practiced it, along with my usual tactics, with the Ruin Kobold Squires on the 18th level of the Labyrinth, per Kirito's advice.

As Asuna fell back with Kirito and waited, I rushed the mob, blocking its attacks with my shield. At the same time, I kept closing the distance so I would be out of its minimum range. Come on, do the thing. There it is! When a Ruin Kobold Squire has a target at point-blank range, it will frequently do a strong but predictable, and most importantly, easily interruptible attack in which it swings its weapon from side to side and will jump away afterwards. Looks like Sentinels do it, too.

I cleanly evaded the attack and closed the distance again as soon as I can, waiting for the opportune moment. As soon as I saw it winding up again, I quickly activated a Weapon Skill, Clear Cut. Clear Cut is a basic, one-hit Weapon Skill for Knives – a simple diagonal swing with average damage and a short range, but it is very quick. Naturally, I hit the Sentinel before it got to swing, canceling its attack and sent it reeling. But still, a little bit too close for comfort.

"All yours, guys!" I shouted. Not wasting their opening, Kirito and Asuna quickly dispatched the mob.

"Now _that_ is what I wanted to see!" Kirito huffed. Asuna muttered a sharp "hmph" and turned her attention to the other Sentinels.

"Well then, let's go! Sentinels ain't gonna kill themselves." Kirito added.

"Roger that."

Eventually, all of the Sentinels were killed. "Sentinels are dead!" I shouted to the other groups.

"Get ready! Illfang's third HP's almost done!" I heard someone from the DPS group say. I took a look for myself. Sure enough, its third HP was in the red.

I stored my knife into my back holster and reequipped my halberd. It's my main weapon, after all. Approach number 2 might work again, but I honestly haven't spent that much time as I would've liked in practicing that tactic, much less practicing knife techniques in general. And if I need my knife again, I can easily draw it out.

Third HP's done! Since there won't be any more Sentinels after this wave, the extermination group will reconvene with the other two groups and help with the boss. Alright, time to finish this!

…that's not right.

Someone took the words right out of my mouth. "Nothing spawned!"

"What!?" Diavel shouted, surprised. "Wait for a little while. If they still don't spawn, then help us with the boss!"

The extermination group remained tense for a couple of minutes. When we were sure that no Sentinels would spawn, we joined the fight against Illfang. I don't know if I should be happy or not. I don't have to fight any more Sentinels, but I'm not really sure if I wanna fight Illfang. Well, you gotta do what ya gotta do.

As I neared the 1st Floor Boss, I became a bit on edge. He looked much larger up close.

"Fall back, he's gonna use a sweep attack!" Someone shouted. All of us backed away as Illfang swung its axe horizontally, missing all the players by a fairly wide margin and creating a gust of wind that blew at us. A lot of players in the front lost their footing and fell backwards. Fortunately, Illfang was affected by post-motion delay, leaving him wide open.

"Attack!" Diavel shouted as he led the charge. With the combined strength of 45 people, we unloaded a seemingly never-ending barrage of Weapon Skills at the helpless boss. From what I saw, we could easily win this fight if Illfang doesn't drastically change its movement pattern, but even then its attack pattern while equipped with the two-handed Talwar is equally slow and sluggish. Any second now, he'll be switching. As long as we keep our cool, we'll be fine. Still, as its HP became closer and closer to the red zone, I couldn't help but get a very bad feeling.

Eventually, as Illfang's final HP hit the red zone, it quickly regained its footing and leaped high into the air, causing the room to shake violently. Throwing its axe and shield aside, it let out a loud roar. Then, it went still, observing us with its blood-red eyes. Eventually, it placed its hand on the handle of its Talwar, which was tied to its back holster and was covered with cloth bandages.

 _ *****  
End Music  
*****_

"Looks like the info's spot on." Kibaou smirked. For once, the douchebag made a proper observation. Still, we hesitated, waiting for its first attack and looking for openings.

"Get back! I'll handle this!" Diavel suddenly rushed forward, his sword glowing. Wait, that's not part of the plan. Weren't we supposed to attack it as a group? For a second, I saw Diavel turn his head towards where my party was. Was he looking at us, or specifically, one of us?

As Diavel moved for the killing blow, Illfang drew out its massive weapon from its back, its cloth wrapping being undone as the giant Kobold unsheathed it outwards. As I got a good look at what the weapon was, my eyes widened. If I remember correctly, a Talwar is a Middle-Eastern curved sword, like scimitars or whatever curved swords the Middle Eastern soldiers use in video games and movies and stuff.

Why the hell does he have a Katana? Oh, no, not just any Katana. It was much longer. It was less like a Katana normal players use and more like what Sephiroth from Final Fantasy used. It literally looked too long for even a giant like Illfang to wield it properly, and yet, Illfang had no problem lifting it up with one hand and taking a stance. I heard that long katanas were a weapon back in the feudal days of Japan, but its name eluded me. A Washing Pole? Something-dachi?

What I was sure of was this - that's not a Talwar.

"Diavel, no! Get back!" Kirito shouted at the top of his lungs. Judging by his expression, I guess this was different from the beta. His warning did not reach Diavel. While Diavel himself looked startled, he still pressed his attack.

Diavel brought his sword down, intent on killing it with his Weapon Skill. Unfortunately, the attack didn't hit, as Ilfang propelled himself high in the air with terrifying speed. In response, Diavel hunkered down, spinning around and trying to keep Illfang in his sights as it jumped around the room from pillar to pillar. But Illfang was too fast. As soon as Diavel couldn't keep up, it lunged at him, its massive katana glowing with a purple light. Signaling that Illfang can now, more or less, use _fucking Weapon Skills_.

We watched, breathless, as Diavel was too late in turning to guard the attack, and was swiftly cut down. A large diagonal line of red particles marked his body as he bounced from the ground and up into the air. Exhibiting extraordinarily fast speed for its size, Illfang turned back, activating another Weapon Skill and literally swatted Diavel out of the sky, sending him crashing into a nearby wall, cracking it with a sickening thud. Illfang then jumped into the middle of our group and roared at our faces. I guess the final wave of Sentinels not spawning wasn't a lucky break. It was the calm before the freaking shitstorm.

And sure enough, things were turning to shit real fast.

"DIAVEL!" Kirito screamed, breaking away and running towards our leader, who was unceremoniously sprawled on the ground. Asuna and I followed him as Illfang started to cleave players by the dozen. Its attacks, in addition to dealing tons of damage, also knocked away all the players it hit.

We reached Diavel, and I froze. His HP was in the red, and even then, it was dropping. He has to be healed as soon as possible.

"Why'd you try to do it alone?" Kirito lamented, taking out a potion flask. That's right, why did he do it? Was it so that we wouldn't get hurt? Even if I'm one talk, not informing us of what you're planning to do is gonna hurt all of us.

As I continued shuffling towards the two, Diavel held Kirito's hand, preventing him from using the potion. He looked up at him weakly and started to speak.

"You were...a beta tester, weren't you? You know...what I was doing." I heard Diavel say to Kirito.

Kirito gasped, his eyes betraying his feelings of shock, and after a few moments later, grim understanding. "You...you were trying to get the Last Hit Bonus on Illfang." He muttered, his voice hushed and dry. It was like they were in their own little world, oblivious to Asuna and I, who were close enough that we could hear their quiet conversation, and to the rest of the clearers, some of them miraculously regrouped and ready to fight Illfang while the others stared blankly at the two.

Diavel's weakening voice drew me back into their conversation."I...I even went so far...as to...buy information about you…and try to…take your sword away… so you wouldn't be…be able…to...I...I guess I went...too far..."

As his HP was fully depleted, he let spoke out, in a hushed, pained voice. "Please...defeat the boss…for everyo—"

He never got to finish his sentence.

And so, the Knight Diavel, leader of the First Boss raid group, turned into blue shards of particles and disintegrated.

We suffered our first casualty. We were doing so well. And yet here we are, caught with our pants down at the last leg of the fight. Worse, that casualty? That was our leader right there.

And worst of all, he did it because he wanted the fucking loot.

Everywhere I could see, people were visibly affected by the death of Diavel. A lot of players looked devastated, dropping their weapons and holding their heads with their hands. The others who kept their cool were busy engaging Illfang, but you could see how sluggish their movements became.

For me, I just stood still. While the loss of our leader was tragic, it doesn't affect the fact that Illfang was still alive, and people were running out of potions fast.

You know what? Screw it. Screw all of it. I'll just dive right in. Won't make much of a difference at this rate, anyway–

Kirito suddenly stood up. I turned sideways to look at his face. He looked resolute, determined to finish what Diavel, and all of us, started.

"I'll go, too." Asuna said, standing close to his side.

"Me too." I added, also standing beside Kirito.

"Thanks, guys." Kirito replied. "We'll do it similar to what we did to the Sentinels. Someone will create an opening. Then, the other two will deal damage."

"I'll make the opening." I replied.

"You sure?" Kirito queried.

I unequipped my shield and held my halberd with both hands. "Well, I have this." I insisted as I looked at their weapons. "More range, less risk. Besides, you two deal more burst damage than me, anyways."

"Good call." Kirito took a deep breath and stared at us intently. "Ready?"

"Yup." I answered. Asuna nodded tersely.

"Alright. Let's go." Kirito concluded. As a team of three, we made a beeline for Illfang, our weapons at the ready.

I changed my mind. Screwing it might be a way to start, but I'd rather have something a bit more practical.

 _ *******_  
 _ **Cue Music: Armored Core 4 OST – Panther**_  
 _ *******_

Illfang noticed us sprinting towards it, and got ready for an attack, its long-ass katana now gleaming with a red light.

"All yours, Riwet!" Kirito shouted.

"Gotcha!" I replied, my halberd glowing blue. As the boss struck out with its sweeping Weapon Skill, I met it halfway with my own sweeping Weapon Skill, Cleaving Blitz – a one-hit Weapon Skill for Polearms which is a very fast and powerful sweep. However, it's not without its downsides. It has a fairly long wind-up and a long post-motion delay, and you would have to hold the polearm with both hands.

My Weapon Skill connected with Illfang's, our Skills canceling each other out and creating a large explosion of particles. Both of us were blown back by the impact. According to the Player Guidebook, even if Cleaving Blitz has middling damage and a long post-motion delay, it is extremely useful as it can stagger almost anything, regardless whether you deflect its attack or just hit it directly.

Good thing I thought of countering it instead of doing the impossible and nonsensical method of trying to block a ten-metre-long Katana with my miniscule buckler.

"NOW!" I shouted. I tried to move, but I was still stuck post-motion.

Kirito unleashed a three-hit Weapon Skill, and for all intents and purposes, the boss should be dead. However, Illfang still held on. Was its natural defenses also buffed when it equipped its new weapon?

Asuna followed up, her sword glowing silver, activating Linear. I saw Illfang's eyes brighten for a split second. Then, even while it was staggering, its sword began glowing again. Shit, it's a feint. Illfang could still retaliate.

"ASUNA!" Kirito shouted before I could, warning her of Illfang. Asuna's expression paled, but only for a split second as she pressed on, undaunted.

As Illfang swung back wildly, Asuna darted to the side, dodging the attack by mere centimeters. Her hood was not as fortunate as her, and it was torn apart, revealing her face for us to see. And the next thing I saw was a flash of silver light and the Kobold king being flung backwards.

As her cape was completely destroyed, I looked at Asuna, standing further away with her back turned. She had long, light brown hair and was wearing a leather tunic – the color was the same as her hooded cape. As the post-motion delay ended, I turned my attention back to Illfang, whose eyes began glowing brightly. Not a good sign. I sprinted towards them.

Kirito and Asuna ran forward, and Illfang met them halfway. The Kobold king took a swing, and Kirito deflected it. Asuna activated a Linear and hit it directly in its stomach. Unfortunately, not only was it still alive, it didn't even budge, like it wasn't hit by anything as it activated a Weapon Skill and swung down towards Asuna. Wow, one second you were blown away, and the next you're suddenly immune to flinching? Just die already!

Before the attack connected, I caught up with them and used Cleaving Blitz again. I hit Illfang on its side, and this time the red bastard flinched _hard_. Not missing the chance, Kirito activated a three-hit Weapon Skill. However, Illfang also activated a Weapon Skill, deflecting two of his strikes. Seriously?! I was still stuck post-motion. Asuna stood close behind the action, patiently waiting for an opening.

Unfortunately for us, the opening never came. Illfang cleaved diagonally with its Weapon Skill, and Kirito swung back, intending to deflect it. Then, the unthinkable happened. When the two blades were about to hit, Illfang drew its Katana back. To our horror, Kirito couldn't do anything other than slice thin air as the boss _made a last-second feint while using a Weapon Skill._

Illfang swung upwards, hitting Kirito diagonally across the body and sending him flying. Asuna was caught off-guard as Kirito was thrown towards her, knocking her down to the ground with him. Before I saw how much damage Kirito took, the Kobold turned its attention to me. Since the post-motion delay held me still, I was unable to dodge and also sent flying, three quarters of my HP gone in an instant.

Activating Battle Healing, I tried standing up, but I was still reeling from the attack and my body hadn't recovered from being whacked around like a freaking golf ball. Kirito didn't look like he was gonna get up for a while, either. Asuna sat up and looked at Illfang. As the Kobold lord lunged towards us, Asuna got up and stood in front of us. She can't dodge without leaving us wide open, and looks like she's gonna take a hit for us. I grit my teeth. Please work.

Suddenly, a flash of green light shot out from behind us. The axeman Agil, in all of his colossal glory, unleashed a one-hit Weapon Skill. Blade met blade, and the impact sent Illfang hurtling away while Agil stood firm. What a player. Four more players came to our aid, one of them being the white-haired player from earlier.

"We'll hold it off for till you recover!" Agil exclaimed. The five of them charged into the fray, unleashing a barrage of Weapon Skills at the boss.

The three of us quickly drank enough potions to fully recover from our injuries, but with a little bit of waiting, and I was still a bit shaky. I observed the fight from a distance, thinking of what I could do from where I sat.

 _Come on, think!_ I haven't recovered yet, so I'll just be in the way. Dammit! What the hell do you want me to do, _throw my halberd at it?!_

…

THAT'S IT!

I let go of my halberd and quickly drew out my knife with my left hand. At that moment, the Katana-wielding menace broke out and swung in a wide arc, blowing away all five of the players. It then jumped high and activated a Weapon Skill mid-air.

"Watch out!" Kirito shouted, springing up to his feet on his way to intercept. I hurriedly took aim and activated Blade Throwing, engulfing my knife with a bright light as it flew towards Illfang. Come on, gimme a good hit.

Bullseye! I nailed the bastard right in the face! While I doubt that I did a lot of damage, Illfang flinched, its eyes dimming back to normal and its Weapon Skill deactivating. Roaring loudly, Kirito let loose a Weapon Skill that cleanly sliced the Kobold and sent it hurtling to the ground. I picked up my halberd and looked at its HP. One more! One more hit and you're _done_!

Kirito landed near us and started running towards Illfang. Asuna and I regrouped and ran alongside him.

"Asuna! Riwet! One last hit! We'll do it together!" He shouted.

"Roger!" Both of us nodded as we made a final sprint towards Illfang, who lunged back at us with its katana glowing red, brighter than the previous times it activated a Weapon Skill.

"Ouryaaaaaaaaaa!" The three of us shouted in unison. I intercepted Illfang's Weapon Skill with a Cleaving Blitz. The clashing of blades was so strong that I managed to destroy the humongous katana, at the cost of pulverizing my halberd, my left hand, and my whole right arm, and leaving me stuck post-motion.

Following up my attack was Asuna. Concentrating, I finally saw how insanely fast she activated Linear, her rapier clothed in silver light as she stabbed the Kobold with all her might.

And for the coup de grace, Kirito. His sword bathed in a bright blue light, he swung downwards, rending Illfang's body from shoulder to waist and blowing it off its feet. And, with a loud roar, he swung his sword upwards, slashing it from its waist to its head. Right there, I saw that Illfang's HP was finally depleted.

Soaring high in the air, Illfang began glowing, bright enough to engulf the room. After that, we stared, dumbfounded, as Illfang's body turned to particles and disintegrated, and a 'Congratulations!' sign appeared.

"We did it! WE DID IT!" The clearers began cheering loudly. A little jingle played out. I guess I've another level for my troubles. Exhausted, my legs gave out and I sat. Inexplicably, I felt a wave of euphoria engulf me.

 _ *******_  
 _ **End Music**_  
 _ *******_

…no. That's not right. Now that I can think clearly, that wasn't the case. As I sat there, I realized something.

I felt this sense of joy _during_ and _after_ I fought Illfang.

What the hell? We were fighting tooth and nail for our victory. Hell, I watched our leader die! So, why?

Why was I so happy fighting something literally designed to tear me apart?

And why…why do I want more?

Agil and Asuna walked slowly towards Kirito, who was kneeling down looking at a message popup. I stood up and joined them. As we got nearer, I saw that it was a message announcing that Kirito got the Last Hit Bonus. Nice.

"That was splendid swordsmanship. Congratulations." Agil applauded.

"I…that's not…." Kirito started.

"No, really. You deserve it, Kirito." I added. "I'd give you a high-five, but…"I looked at my arms. Well, what's left of them, I guess. "I'll get back to you when they grow back." I quipped dryly. Kirito smirked at that. We looked back at the group. All of them were celebrating, happy to reach our first real milestone and more importantly, happy that they were still alive.

Well…the vast majority of them anyways.

Amidst the celebration, a shrill shout caught all of our attention.

"WHY!?"

We turned our heads. Kibaou sat there, with tears in his eyes.

"Why didn't you save Diavel?!" He shouted at Kirito. "Why did you let him die!?"

"Let him die?" Kirito replied, confused.

"Exactly!" The orange-haired douchebag shouted angrily. "You knew that technique the boss used! If you told us that up front, he wouldn't have died!"

The atmosphere turned really grim.

"He must be a beta tester!" "You knew what will happen!" "How dare you keep this from us!" Angry shouts and glares emanated from the crowd. Asuna and Agil worriedly glanced at the scene unfolding before them.

What. The fuck. Is wrong with you people? You _saw_ Diavel run by himself. He held us back because he wanted the loot. He even held Kirito's hand so he wouldn't use the potion! Also, even I noticed that something's wrong when Illfang drew something else instead of a Talwar. Is having a functioning _brain_ a sign of being a beta tester?

I opened my mouth, but I couldn't say anything. Will they believe me? Am I gonna labeled as a sympathizer? But, the proof is there. All I need is to shout real loud and they'll listen to me. But, what if they don't? Diavel held his hand, right? Hah, likely story.

No, they'll listen! These idiots listened to that orange-haired fuckface, so why wouldn't they listen to me?

Is it worth risking my own skin for it?

My eyes widened at that thought. That's your _friend_. He saved you, you spineless freak. There's still time. Say what you need to say. Do it! NOW!

Do…it….

After all that, I still couldn't say anything. I hung my head down. Damn it… _damn it._ As I wallowed in my own misery and cowardice, I heard a laugh.

"Heh. Heh heh heh. Hahahahha!" Kirito's laughter permeated through the room as the crowd went silent. I have never heard of a laugh more forced to sound evil than that laugh. "A beta tester? I wish you wouldn't compare me to those jokes."

"Wh-what?" A player muttered.

Kirito grinned evilly. "Most of the thousand beta testers were idiots, who didn't even know how to allocate their stat points when they level up. You people are already better than they are. "

"But…I'm not like _them_." He spat. "I've made it farther than anyone else during the beta test. The reason why I know Illfang's moves is that I've faced the same kind of moves on the higher floors." He sneered. "You know, I could've done it all by myself. But hey, good try, everyone. You've met my expectations…my very, _very_ , small expectations."

"Y-you…that's worse than being a beta tester! You're a cheater!" Kibaou exclaimed, outraged.

"Yeah, I am. And you know what else? Since I'm the strongest person who you ignorant newbies have the honor of knowing, I'll invent a term so you can address me easily. Hmm." He pondered for a bit. "Let's combine 'beta tester' and 'cheater'…a 'beater' sounds easy enough for you morons to remember, right?"

Everybody was stunned. Uhh...it's easy to remember, but…yeah, good thing not everyone here knows a lot about English slang.

"And there we have it. From now on, don't confuse me with the other testers." He turned around and started to walk away.

"Wh-who the hell do you think are!?" Kibaou screamed.

Kirito stopped walking and glanced sideways at him. "A beater. Didn't I just tell you?" He replied, sarcasm palpable in his tone as he opened his Player Menu. "People like me have power the likes of you couldn't even fathom." He equipped a black coat over his clothes – likely a Last Hit Bonus Reward from Illfang. "And people like me…" He paused, as his coat ruffled into place, "are your best hope of getting out of this game." He sighed. "You've wasted enough of my time. If you wanna talk to me again, then become as strong as me and prove me wrong." Kirito concluded his 'I'm a bad guy' shtick and continued to walk away. He entered the nearby room – the one leading to the 2nd floor – and disappeared.

Even after Kirito was out of sight, the rest of us just stood there. Most of them were stunned at the events, while I pondered silently. He did a good job of daring people to become stronger. That's gonna motivate the lot of them. Also, 'Don't confuse me with other testers'? Was he creating another label so that people would no longer discriminate against normal beta testers?

I bit my lip. It was something I was too scared to do.

Eventually, the clearers gathered themselves. They busied themselves with checking their stats and newfound loot, handing out healing potions to their parties, and the like. Nobody noticed Asuna run towards where Kirito was. I started to go with her, but I hesitated. After all, I just stood there and let him take the heat. After a couple of minutes, I decided to go after the two. I needed to know how Kirito would react to my inaction.

I reached the other room saw him opening the gate for the 2nd floor.

"Kirito!" I shouted I received a notification that he disbanded the party.

"…Riwet." He turned towards me and smiled. Not the reaction I was expecting. "I'd love to hang out, but we should wait until all of this blows over, when the players remember the term, but not my face." He explained. Asuna observed us silently.

"I…I'm sorry." I stammered.

"For what?" Kirito inquired, tilting his head.

"It…it sounds like I'm justifying myself but I…I actually wanted to…like…speak out when you were being harassed earlier. But…I couldn't…"

"Because you wanted to lay low and not catch attention, right?" Kirito replied. Bullseye. I hung my head down and looked at the side.

"Don't feel bad. No one would've believed you anyway. Besides, if our roles were switched, I would've done the same thing." Kirito reassured me.

I'm not sure if I would've done the same, but I shut my mouth. "…thanks, Kirito." was all I could say.

"No problem." He replied jovially. "It's been fun partying with you, Riwet. See you later."

"See you later, Kirito."

He nodded and went inside the gate.

"It was also fun partying with you, Asuna-san." I finally said to Asuna.

"…Likewise, Riwet-kun." She said, smiling. Huh. Never seen her smile until now. I wonder what the two of them talked about before I got here.

"Can you spare me a potion?" I asked. "My hands don't work yet." She produced a potion flask and splashed its contents on my body, replenishing my HP and reducing the debuff time. "Thanks. I'll give one back to you when my arms return."

She nodded. "Let's go back." She concluded.

"Roger that." As we headed for the boss room, she stopped and turned around, looking softly at the gate. I went ahead of her and exited the room.

One down. 99 more to go.

 *****  
** _ **Chapter End  
**_ *******

A/N: And Scene! This is my first time writing a battle scene that long.

That's all for now. Thank you very much, and have a good one.


	7. CH 7 - 2022 Year End

Chapter 7 – 2022 Year End

 _December 22, 2022  
3rd Floor_

I stood still, listening intently for any sign of hostiles. Finding nothing but ambiance, I leaned my back towards a large tree and sat, placing my weapons to the side. Good god, I forgot how covered this floor is with trees. I mean, I don't have much of a problem with forests. In fact, one of the reasons why the 3rd Floor Labyrinth was found easily was because the path there was considerably less dense. That said, aside from the Labyrinth and a handful of cities, there was literally nothing else to look at except trees, trees, and more trees.

Taking a rest but still being alert, I once again marveled at the interesting quirks of a human's mental capabilities. It only took more or less a week to beat the 2nd floor, and this floor lasted even shorter. Compare that to the first floor, when it took us a whole month to complete it. Also, even though casualties are still tragic and debilitating, the overall casualty rate has gone down considerably. And, most amazing of all is that if by some miracle, we were able to keep the pace, we'll be out here in two years. _Two years_. Just a month ago we were on the brink of giving up, now a lot of players slowly began to trickle out of the Starting City. You can't fault me for being amazed at how the current situation improved.

Well, it improved for most of the players...I shook my head to clear my thoughts. What's done is done.

I opened my Player Guidebook, reading the details of a particular quest. It's cool that, instead of buying updated publications over and over again, you can 'upgrade' the book itself. It's like a magic trick. The book itself is no bigger than a manga book, but you can literally flip through hundreds of pages. You can even open a 'Find' menu! But, as always, no harm in keeping outdated spares.

Alright...let's see...there it is - the guild creation quest. I felt a bit uneasy when Klein said I should go with them to complete this quest. Past team-ups aside, I'm an outsider and someone who isn't really planning to join the guild, or any guild, anytime soon. Well, if Klein said it's okay, then why not? I kinda miss questing with them, to be honest.

I heard a sharp rustling of grass and leaves close to me. I didn't stand up, but I stored my book and readied myself to react. I've leveled up enough that the monsters here couldn't lay a finger if they tried, but there's nothing wrong with being a bit careful.

As the disturbance crept close enough that it was in my range of my Scanning skill, I tilted my head, confused. I was expecting the usual monsters, but it was something different. It was a player. A hooded cloak was concealing his face and body as he slithered his way closer to me. What's clear is that he's headed straight towards me.

"Can I help you?" I called out to the voice, trying to hide my unease. I don't like it when _monsters_ try to sneak up on me. At least with those bastards, I could just kill them and be done with it.

The noises stopped, and it stayed silent. I don't want to play this game. You better come out or get out.

...no? Alright then, better safe than sorry.

I quickly picked up my weapon and stood up, brandishing my pole weapon at the direction of the noise. I tuned out all the other sounds and focused on where the player stopped moving. Whoever he is, he's good at sneaking around. All the more reason that I should make my intentions clear.

After a few tense moments, the player replied. "Alright, alright, chill. I'm coming out." The voice was sharp and feminine. A girl? The player walked out from behind the tree. While she wasn't holding any weapons in her hand, her cloak concealed whatever small weapons she might have holstered on her person. Her body was small and lithe, perfect for nimble movements, though I don't really know how much of a factor is that because the system bases abilities on player stats rather than physical characteristics. Once she got closer, I got a good look at her face beneath her hood. She had brown, mischievous eyes, and had marks her face – three on each cheek, resembling whiskers. The whiskers were similar to the ones I got during the Martial Arts quest I took a few days back. It looked good on her. "What gave me away?" she asked playfully.

I lowered my weapon. "My Scanning Skill level's pretty high. I also killed every single monster in the whole area." I replied. Aside from being really sneaky, her appearance and demeanor reminded me of a little critter, like a hamster or a mouse.

"Huh."

"Makes for good stress relief. And I'm far away from popular leveling areas, so I'm not really disturbing anyone." I shrugged. "So, as I said earlier, can I help you?" I asked again.

"Hmm..." She placed a finger to her lips and grinned. "I suppose you can, Riwet."

She knows my name. I slowly raised my weapon again, pointing it straight at her. "Who are you?"

Her grin widened. "Name's Argo. I'm sure you're heard of me." Argo, huh?

"I'm not exactly sure how common that name is but, you're _the_ Argo, right? The information broker involved in the Player Guidebooks?" I asked her.

She puffed out her chest proudly. "Yep, that's me." She then peered into my eyes. "I guess I found the right guy."

I exhaled sharply, lowering my weapon again. That explains a lot, actually. "What makes you so sure?" I inquired.

"You kinda gave yourself away." She grinned and pointed at my left arm. "There's not a lot of lefties in the clearing group. And there are even fewer lefties who aren't using swords."

I sighed. There was no fooling this girl. "Alright, I guess you got me."

"So, do you have some time to spare?" She asked.

I opened my Player Menu. "I got time. Monsters here are gonna respawn soon, though. Let's go to a safe zone."

"Good idea."

Argo led the way to a safe zone - a small clearing not far from where we were. I was initially surprised by how fast she found a safe zone, but then again, she was a beta tester, and at the very least heavily involved with writing the Player Guidebook.

"So," I started. "First off, why all the sneaking around?"

"How else would I judge your Scanning skill level?" She replied. I eyed her evenly. "Is something wrong?"

"...I get the feeling that if you weren't purposefully making a ruckus to test my skill level, I wouldn't be able to track you." She stayed silent, grinning. Of course.

"Now, Riwet. You're probably wondering why I came here." Argo said, changing the subject. I nodded. "You see, I'm here to make you an offer."

"An offer?"

"You see, I'm a roaming businesswoman. And, I'm in need of clients."

"Exactly how does your business work?" I inquired.

"You have something to sell, I find a buyer. You want something to buy, I find a seller. Equipment, items. Anything."

"Sounds pretty convenient."

"But…there is something else that I offer."

"…and that is?"

"Information, procured by yours truly. Rumors about bosses and world events that are too vague to be written in the Player Guidebook. And, for the primo stuff, information about players. Their stat information, playstyle, and if available, even their current location." She explained. I shuddered at the implications. "I take a percentage cut for player dealings. For information procurement, however, expect a hefty price tag. Nishishishi." She concluded, snickering smugly.

I narrowed my eyes. Other players' stats? What am I gonna use that for? The item trading and rumors sound pretty good, though.

"If it makes you feel any better, a certain player called 'Kirito' makes regular use of my services, and witnessed the effectiveness of it first-hand."

My eyes widened. "Kirito?"

"That's right. The reason I brought his name up, and as an extension, the reason I'm offering my services to you is because I caught Kii-bou when he was in a chatty mood, and he told me all about this southpaw spearman friend of his. But what _I_ was hearing was a possible customer for my business." She grinned and sent me a friend request.

"Well...you're not wrong. Are you two good friends?"

"Oh, We go way back. But you could say that we're more like…good business partners."

"Okay then." I paused, looking around and scanning the area to make sure we're alone. Alright, no one's eavesdropping. I took a deep breath and continued slowly. "You're a beta tester, right? You've probably heard about Kirito's little fiasco a couple of weeks back in the 1st-floor boss room. Did the situation improve? And how's Kirito doing?"

"I heard all about Kii-bou bein' a hero. His stunt definitely improved the relations between the normal players and most of the beta testers. Though, there are a few beta testers who fit the bill for a beater. They're busy keeping to themselves and stroking their ego." She chuckled. "As for Kii-bou, he's still laying low, but miraculously, people doesn't seem to remember that he was the one who practically invented the term."

"Yeah. I saw him during the boss fights in the other floors. Nobody seemed to notice. Or care, for that matter." Even though I wanted to, I wasn't able to talk to him because he would disappear the second the raids ended.

"Speaking of Kii-bou, since he indirectly referred to you as a prospective client, I'll give you a first-use offer: I'll tell you all the information I have regarding a player. For free." Again, what am I gonna use that for, exactly? Also, it's not like that's gonna stay relevant for long. "Come on. It's free." She insisted.

...wait. I got it.

As I opened my mouth to speak, she raised her hand. "Sorry. One thing I forgot. What I would _not_ tell you is if a player is a beta tester or not." She warned me sternly.

"Alright, fair enough. Then...tell me all the information you have regarding a certain player called...Riwet." My turn to act smug. I grinned as I finished my sentence. I wonder how much info she got on me.

"I suppose I could." She started, pulling out a small booklet from her inventory and quickly scanning it. "Riwet...Riwet...got it." She took a deep breath. "Player Name: Riwet. Age: Somewhere between 15 and 17. Current Level: Somewhere between 13 and 15. Stats: evenly distributed, but with a small emphasis on Strength. Armor preferences: Medium armor. Also periodically uses small to medium-sized shields. Weapon Preferences: One-handed Pole Weapons, also displays proficiency with Knives, Throwing Weapons, and more recently, Martial Arts. Additional Notes: Solo Player. Fights left-handed. Clearer. Often seen wearing clothing with blue coloring. Blends in easily with the crowd." She rapped.

I was stunned. She knows a lot about me. "Wow."

"You'd think that someone who uses a different dominant hand would make for bigger news, but you stand out just as much as a normal player." She jeered.

"Well, it's better than standing out like a sore thumb." I retorted.

"You can say that again. So, you in?" She asked.

"All right, I'm in." I accepted her deal, as well as her friend request.

Argo smiled triumphantly. "Perfect! I hope we get along well." She said as she opened her Player Menu. "Well, it looks like my free time's run out. I'll see you soon, Riwet." She explained as she walked away.

"Wait!" I called out. I failed once to help a beta tester. The least I could do is to help this one. As she turned around, I requested to trade with her. As she tilted her head, I explained. "Since I frequently use the Player Guidebook, and you're directly related to its publication, I would like to place...donations to your cause, if I am allowed to do so."

"Yes. You are most certainly allowed." She replied courteously, accepting my request, which brought out the trading window. I gave her a third of my total Col, which amounted to more or less 20,000 Col. "You know, this won't earn you any special favors from me." She spoke evenly.

"I don't mind." I reassured her. "Just keep doing those Player Guidebooks and I'm happy."

"Will do, Ricchan." She said as she accepted the money. Ricchan? Not exactly sure how I feel about that nickname. After that, she bowed her head slightly and turned around.

After taking a couple of steps, she stopped and turned her head back, her eyes meeting mine. "For whatever it's worth, Ricchan, I agree with Kirito. No one would've believed you anyway." She grinned. "See you around." She turned to head back and disappeared into the forest. I tried to track her movements using Scanning, but sure enough, it was like she wasn't even here to begin with.

I stood still, reflecting on what she said to me. After a few moments, I broke into a grin. I felt a bit lighter, as if something heavy that I carried was taken away. I sat on the ground and looked around. One thing that's great about these damn trees was that even though the sun was high up in the sky, I still felt cool and comfortable.

A notification snapped me out of my musings. It was from Klein, saying that they were ready to meet up. I replied that I'm on my way.

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"Here's a toast to the official formation of our guild - The Fuurinkazan!" Klein announced excitedly. Cheers erupted from the group. Overall, the atmosphere was pretty lively at the restaurant that we rented, to celebrate the successful completion of the guild creation quest.

I messaged Klein if he needed any help in completing the quest, and he responded by calling me over from the 4th floor to help. Overall, the quest was pretty straightforward. Just survive an onslaught of enemies for an amount of time and you've got yourself a quest item that you can use to create your own guild.

"And I propose another toast, in dedication to our guest. He's helped us a few times in the past and was also present in the quest to create our guild. He's also a clearer, and he helped against all the floor bosses. Here's to Riwet, our most celebrated affiliate!"

I stood up and bowed. "Thank you very much! I'm happy to help!" The crowd also cheered for me. At the end of the quest, Klein asked me if I would join their guild. I refused. I've gotten used to playing solo, and I still wanted to play at my own pace. It's better to honestly but tactfully declining the invitation rather than joining this guild halfheartedly.

The newly-christened Fuurinkazan celebrated zealously. Sitting back down and relaxing, I glanced at the players present. I was surprised at how much they've gotten stronger this past month. When I checked their levels, none of them were lower than 10, with Klein being the highest at 12. They're not far off compared to the current clearer level average, which was stated to be 16 in the most recent newspapers. If they keep this pace up, it's possible that they could someday participate in the boss raid.

"Having fun, kid?" Klein said as sat down next to me, grinning.

"You bet, boss-man." I ribbed. I know that as a leader, things will only get harder as time passes. But man, not only was he able to keep all of his team alive, he was also able to guide all of them and make them pretty damn strong.

We both sat in silence, a little far away from the others, who were dancing around like drunks.

As I took a sip of my tea, Klein leaned in a bit. "How are you holding up?" Klein asked quietly.

I frowned a bit as I replied. "I'm doing great. Why?" I asked. The other members of the guild were either too far away or too distracted by the party to hear our conversation.

Klein paused for a second and slowly replied. "Well, when I met you almost a month ago, you got owned by starter mobs. Two weeks ago, your level's higher than all of us. Now, that gap got even wider."

"Well, you have a team to train with. Like I said in the past, since I'm playing solo, I get all the EXP for myself. But yeah, sometimes I forget to take breaks. Don't worry, though. I always keep myself safe, especially since I'm running solo most of the time. The most recent time I got seriously injured was back during the fight against the 1st-floor boss two weeks ago." I assured him.

"I guess that's true...I'll trust that you know what you're doing, but if you need a bit more muscle, don't forget to give us a call."

"Sure thing."

As we sat and looked at the partying members, Klein spoke up again. "One more thing."

"Sure, what is it?"

"Do you know a player named Kirito?"

"Yeah, I do. Why?" That's the second time this day that his name came up.

"He's a friend. He kinda reminds me of you. Both of you look stronger than you look."

"Is that a compliment, or are you implying that I look scrawny?"

He broke into a grin. "Yes." He said as he started chuckling.

"You ass." I retorted, laughing alongside him. Suddenly, I realized something.

"Klein, where did you meet him?"

"I actually met him before SAO turned into a death game." He moved a bit closer to me and continued in a hushed voice. "He's a beta tester, so I'm a bit worried about him."

Yep, he's the one.

"And when SAO turned into _this,_ he offered to help you, right?" I added.

Klein's eyes widened. "How do you know that?"

"We're friends. I met him at Tolbana a month ago and he gave me advice on how to prepare for the boss raid. We teamed up for the raid."

"Really?"

"Yup."

"I message him once in a while, but I haven't really seen him in person for a long time. How is he?"

I shrugged. "We haven't really talked to each other in these couple of weeks. I see him every now and again, and he looks like he's doing well. He tends to lay low, with him being a beta tester and all." Sorry Klein. I'll let Kirito tell you about his 'beater' business.

"I see…That's good." Klein trailed off.

We spent the next few moments silently drinking. Man, tea sure tastes good, even in SAO.

Then, Klein looked at me seriously, like he had something really important to say.

"Riwet…"

I tensed up. "What is it?"

He moved his hand and rested it on his chin. "Any luck in finding cute babes?"

I sighed, hung my head downwards, and rubbed my forehead with my fingers.

The party continued on until it was night out. A lot of people were either in the city near the 3rd floor Labyrinth or have moved to the 4th floor already, so there were openings in the nearby inns. I rented a room for a night and slept soundly.

My work here is done. Time to start the 4th floor grind.

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 _1st Floor_

"All right! We've done enough for today! Let's head back!" Exclaimed their leader. The group of six started to head back to Tolbana.

One of the players in the group looked around the area, admiring its beauty as the field was dyed orange by the setting sun. It was a shame that such beauty was undermined by the fact that deadly monsters were hiding in the shadows, and that this same field claimed the lives of so many players.

His leader walked by his side. "You've been improving steadily, Sefton."

"Thank you very much." He replied.

Only recently had Sefton been trying to level up and fight. For the first month of this horrible death game, Sefton ironically felt disconnected to the virtual world, despite the fact that literally trapped him. He would spend all day in his room, either laying silently in his bed or, looking blankly outside of his room's window. Occasionally, hunger would tear at his psyche, and he would force himself outside to eat. Even then, he still felt out of touch. When he ate, he didn't taste the flavor of the food that was painstakingly replicated in SAO. All he felt was his hunger subsiding. He resented the bright sun, as it mockingly reminded him of something that he might not see ever again.

However, that all changed at the start of December. As he was on his way to the inn, he saw a group of five players entering from outside the city gates. They were pretty shaken up, but they were relieved. From the looks of it, it seemed that it was their first time venturing outside. Inexplicably, Sefton was drawn to the group. For three days, he would go to the edge of the City, in a spot where he could see the gates. He observed that the group would leave just before noon and come back a few hours later. He saw that every time the group returned, they became more and more confident. On the fourth day, he mustered up all of the courage he had and asked the group if he can come with them. He knew that they had every right to refuse him. After all, his meager player stats and inexperience would just drag them down.

However, instead of casting him away, the group accepted him. He trained diligently, and started to make contributions to the team as their second forward tank. While they have been making steady progress, the stress of risking their lives weighed heavily on them, so their schedule remained relatively light. However, as they spent weeks training and leveling up in the hostile fields and forests of the 1st floor, they were slowly and steadily becoming stronger.

As they entered the city and were close to their usual restaurant, Sefton spoke up. "Dinner's on me tonight!" The group cheered as they entered. They ate heartily, making conversations and jokes.

One of his teammates spoke to him, a sword and shield user who was their first forward tank. "Sefton-san, we appreciate the free food, but do you still have enough Col? Since you're one of our tanks, aren't you already spending a lot on healing potions?"

"It's fine." He assured him. "I have enough." Even though his budgeting skills aren't that good, once in a while is fine, right?

After they finished eating, their leader gathered their attention.

"I propose that we start going to the Labyrinth to level. I checked the Player Guidebook, and all of us are five levels above the recommended level for the Labyrinth's first floor. What do you guys say?"

One by one, they nodded in agreement. They turned their head towards their last teammate, a female spear-wielder, who looked hesitant.

"As…as long as we stay safe, I have no problems." She conceded.

"Alright. That settles it. We'll start going to the Labyrinth tomorrow. It's still two floors away, but it's a step closer to us starting our own guild." He raised his glass. "Here's to our continued success, and to the future creation of our guild."

"The Moonlit Black Cats!"

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 **A/N:** Kind of short compared to the previous chapter, but I'm okay with how it turned out.

That's all for now. Thank you very much, and have a good one.


	8. CH 8 - Hitting a Wall

Chapter 8 – Hitting a Wall

 _February 10, 2023  
25_ _th_ _Floor_

The 25th floor. A bizarre and oppressive floor, filled with maze-like formations of hard earth. Any player who went far enough into the game to access this floor would be assaulted by the horizon not unlike a giant hedge maze, with twists, turns, and dead ends as far as the eye could see, with no end in sight. The view from the inside of the maze was even more unnerving – while the inside of the maze itself was about as wide as a two-way road, the walls were as high as a four-story building, almost threatening to engulf the very sky itself.

A white-haired female player walked slowly, cautiously scanning the area around her. Together with her team, the three of them slowly walked on, daunted by the impossibly complex alien-like maze.

Eventually, they encountered an enemy, a single Stone Golem that towered over them, standing with its back towards them and blocking the path. It was an imposing 5-meter tall humanoid behemoth made out of large rocks. While it was ignoring them at first, before they were ready to strike, its upper body quickly spun to face them and it charged at them with ridiculous speed.

After a few minutes of fighting, they were starting to get really nervous. While they were able to destroy its limbs, it regenerated them after a short while. According to the Guidebook, Stone Golems, like the one that they were fighting, are a common enemy in this floor. However, they are normally encountered in groups of two or three. They were having a lot of trouble with fighting just _one_.

"This is way more than I expected it to be." One of her teammates commented as they all stopped to catch a breath. "A common enemy shouldn't have been this strong."

She agreed with him. "After we take care of this, let's go back to our base on the 1st floor. We need to report the situation to our leader." Her two companions nodded, and they steeled themselves.

However, as they prepared to engage, a loud voice rang from behind them amidst the chaos.

"Look out! Enemies coming from above!" The voice warned.

As if on cue, three large objects landed right behind them, shattering the ground. Three more Stone Golems appeared from the rubble, ready to strike. The female player gritted her teeth. She didn't expect that a common enemy could set them up for an ambush.

As the Golems on both sides began closing in, the voice called out again. "Are you alright?! Can you hear me?!"

"We can hear you! Can you help us?!" The white-haired player replied.

"I'll try to help! I'll knock two golems down! Once I do that, get over here as soon as you can! Got it?!"

"Understood!"

"Alright, here comes!" After a few moments, a blue light flashed, and two of the golems were knocked down and stunned, their legs sliced off. "NOW!"

Not wasting their chance, the three-player party sprinted past the fallen Golems. Once they were through, they turned around and faced the monsters. A player ran to their side – he was the source of the voice.

His polearm glowing, the player leaped high into the air. As he landed on the ground, he impaled his weapon into the fallen golem's weak point – a small red stone embedded in the monster's head. Weakened by his earlier attack, the golem's HP was fully depleted.

However, the Weapon Skill that he unleashed left him stunned post-motion. The Golem that was left standing delivered a ferocious kick to the player. Fortunately, the delay wore off just in time for him to block. He was blown away back to the party of three, receiving negligible damage.

"Hey, you guys alright?" The player asked. Once he got close, they carefully looked at him. He was wearing a dark-blue hooded cloak, with the hood pulled back, showing his black hair and eyes, with nothing noteworthy standing out of his facial features. Beneath the cloak, he wore medium armor. In his hand, he held a one-handed Glaive – A specific type of Polearm consisting of a single-edged blade on the end of a pole. The white-haired player frowned. He seemed…familiar.

"What do you guys want to do? We can try to make a break for it, but you know how fast the golems move, and we might step on some traps because we're too busy running."

"So, our best option is to eliminate them?" The white-haired female asked.

He nodded his head. "Yes, preferably as soon as possible, before other monsters show up."

She looked at her companions, and they both nodded their heads. "We'll back you up."

"Awesome." He replied, and they turned their attention back to the fight. While the white-haired player kept her focus on the fight, she couldn't help but feel slightly disturbed at their new companion, who grinned sadistically as they charged.

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"Well, here we are. Welcome to Sud." The glaive-wielder exclaimed as they entered the rather large city gates. The city of Sud was one of the two only cities in the 25th floor. Despite that, or maybe because of that, the city was beautiful, providing a sense of respite from the harsh maze outside.

"Well, now's a good time as any for introductions." The solo player bowed slightly. "My name's Riwet."

The female player also bowed in response. "Nice to meet you, Riwet-san. My name's Yulier." She replied, and they both raised their heads.

"Nice to meet you, too, Yulier-san. But please, just Riwet is fine."

"Of course." Yulier replied. As her teammates took turns introducing themselves, Yulier spoke up. "Thank you very much for your help back there. We wouldn't have made it without you."

Riwet nodded and made a friendly smile. "Don't mention it. I'm just glad that I got there on time." He replied politely and then frowned. "Say, have I met you somewhere before?"

Yulier also frowned for a moment, and smiled slightly as she remembered the reason why. "It's the second time that you saved me."

"…oh, right! I remember now. From the 1st floor boss fight." He replied, grinning. She nodded. Though his attire and weapon have changed, she still remembered that it was him from all the way back to the very first boss raid.

Yulier turned her attention to her two subordinates, who looked exhausted. "Alright. You're free to go for now. Restock on items, get your equipment repaired, and rest up. We'll meet here in an hour." She commanded. The two nodded their heads vigorously and then walked further inside the city.

"You're not going to join them?" Riwet asked, confused.

"I'll do it later." She replied, sending a status report to her guild leader. "For now, can you spare me a bit of your time?" She asked as she closed her Player Menu.

Riwet opened his own Player Menu. After briefly looking at it, he quickly closed it and replied. "I'm free for a bit. But, what for?"

She saw a nearby area with a bench and only a few people walking by. "You look a bit tired, Yulier-san. Let's go over there and I'll listen to what you have to say." Riwet suggested.

"Thank you very much, Riwet." As she sat on the bench and relaxed her strained body, she began to explain her situation. "As indicated by our earlier performance, we're not clearers. We're part of a guild called 'MMO Today'."

"MMO Today?" Riwet spoke suddenly. "Sorry for interjecting, but isn't that the name of that big gaming info site?"

"Yes. Though we can't prove it, our leader's the head admin of MMO Today."

"Wow, no kidding...anyways, it was pretty reckless that your guild decided to send just three of you, instead of at least a full six-man party." He stated.

"We're a small guild. We don't have a lot of members to spare." She explained.

"But MMO Today also can't afford to lose some of their strongest members now, can it?"

Yulier exhaled sharply. "You're right. It was a miscalculation on our part. I thought that we could just take a quick look and get back. We didn't think that such a common mob would be so difficult to fight."

Riwet sat down on the other end of the bench. "Well, at least nobody got seriously hurt. Or died, for that matter." He reassured her. "Alright, sorry, I derailed the conversation. Let's get back on track." Riwet suggested sheepishly.

"Good idea. Anyway, our current goal is to help lower-leveled players from Floor 1 to 10." She sighed. "Originally, it would only be the first 5 floors, but no one anticipated Power Play, so we extended it to 10 floors."

Power play. A term used by players to describe the events that started at the final days of December. Beginning with the 5th floor, clearers began raiding bosses and clearing floors at an obscenely fast rate, with an average of one cleared floor every two days, and in rare cases, the floor would be cleared the day it was unlocked.

She continued her explanation. "We stopped participating in the boss raids when we cleared the 12th floor so we could help the weaker players. We heard that progress on the 25th floor slowed down dramatically, so we decided to go here and check. It was our first time being here and the floor isn't cleared yet, so we can't use our crystals to warp here." While crystals were invaluable in providing quick transport, it had its limits. Specifically, a player could warp onto any city if its respective floor has been cleared, or if the player has been to that city at least once, regardless of whether the floor has been cleared or not.

Riwet's face darkened slightly. "Well, you can officially say that Power Play is over." Yulier looked at him. His face paled more, and he grimaced. "And now, we're stuck in this hellhole."

They spent a few moments sitting in silence. "What happened?" Yulier finally asked. Why did the Power Play stop?

"A couple of things." Riwet gripped his hands tightly as he spoke. "The first and biggest factor is, the sheer speed of clearing the floors during Power Play came at a price. In order to keep the pace, we were just leveling up to be at the recommended level for the floor, and then shift our priorities into raiding the boss, safety be damned. We didn't stay to level, or farm for new gear, or anything."

He slightly tensed up as he continued. "The second part is that from floors 20 to 24, most of the monsters populating the path to the Labyrinth, inside the Labyrinth, and even the floor bosses have attack patterns that encouraged us to use reckless tactics instead of a more reactionary playstyle. Looking back at it now, it should've been suspicious. There was even an NPC near the Labyrinth of the 24th floor, rambling on and on about how 'reckless fools will meet a terrible fate'. One of the clearers had this bright idea that we should find out what the NPC meant. But, like the reckless fools that we are, we plowed through the Labyrinth and killed the boss."

Riwet looked upwards, sighing. "And because we skimped out on leveling and acquiring rare gear, we were totally unprepared for the 25th floor. Truth be told, it was really only a matter of time. One very small silver lining to all of this is that to our credit, we haven't lost a single clearer during Power Play."

"Exactly how bad is the current situation?" Yulier asked.

As soon as she finished talking, the glaive wielder's face turned harsh, his eyes frowning and glaring at the empty space in front of him. "Three people died before we even reached the Labyrinth."

Yulier stared at him in disbelief. "That can't be…"

Riwet inhaled sharply as he started explaining again. "This floor is a damn nightmare. It's a giant maze filled with dead ends and pitfall traps. The monsters here don't mess around either, as you and you team have probably experienced." She nodded. "In this floor, monsters are, at best, unpredictable, and at worst, unpredictable _and_ abnormally strong. It's not uncommon for monsters here to set you for up for an ambush. Some of them also blend into the environment, and they can even partially hide from a Scanning Skill."

Yulier remained silent, and Riwet's face turned solemn. "It was a full six-player party that got hit. Four days ago we discovered Paradis, a city that was closest to the floor Labyrinth. Our leader sent the party to scout the path to the Labyrinth. Only three people returned."

"According to them, they were making good progress when they were ambushed and surrounded by a group of monsters that came out of nowhere. Two of them were killed by the monsters, but the others were able to break through and run. While were running, they took out and started to use their Teleport Crystals, only for one of them to fall into a trap. Because they were in the same party, they got a good look when his HP turned to 0 in a matter of seconds. Fast enough that they weren't able to do anything, slow enough that they had to watch."

"When the survivors got back, they had this dead look in their eyes and they looked kinda twitchy. Obviously, they took a break as we completed the Labyrinth levels, in which we took the whole four days to get to the last level and finally find the boss room, with four more clearers dying in the process."

"For the boss raid, reports from a scouting party told us that we need, at the very least, 70 players for the raid. Currently, clearers consist of more or less 110 people, and we'll have even less because some players might not be mentally prepared for a raid, and some might have traumatized themselves and became mentally unstable, like what happened to the survivors. I don't have to be a leader to see that morale is at an all-time low." He exhaled audibly.

Yulier was stunned, hanging her head downwards in despair.

Riwet spoke up once again. "But, in spite of all of that, we still have a fair chance. Even if 20 people were out of commission, we still have 80, enough for a raid, and we can also just wait for them. And even though Power Play's as dead as it could be, we still found the boss room within five days, so the schedule isn't really that bad when we compare it to the clearing time of the first three floors. And as for our morale, you know the player called Kibaou, right?"

She pondered for a short moment and nodded her head. She knew of him as the orange-haired player whose outspoken attitude clashed with many of the clearers, but it also earned him a following of sorts.

"He's built himself an army, that guy. The 40-man guild called Aincrad Liberation Squad. They've contributed a lot in clearing the Labyrinth. Also, Kibaou's motivation and propensity to break into long-winded and inspirational-sounding speeches is slowly building back morale. He's become our unofficial leader. I might not like the guy very much, but you can't deny what he's done for us."

"I see…" Yulier mused. She met Kibaou a couple of times back when she was participating in the boss raids. He came across as capable, but too abrasive to lead. It's interesting what dire situations bring out in people.

"So, all in all, while we've hit a major setback, we're still able to fight. We'll get through this. That much I'm certain." Riwet concluded, optimism present in his voice.

"And I hope that you and the rest of the clearers succeed." Yulier added.

"Thank you very much, Yulier-san. So, did that answer your question?"

"Yes. Thank you very much."

A few more minutes passed, with both of them sitting silently. Then, Riwet spoke up. "Do you need to know anything else, Yulier-san?" He asked. When Yulier shook her head, he stood up. "Well, time for me to get back to it." He grunted as he stretched his limbs. "You should head back with your group and keep training those players. We'll need them sooner rather than later."

Yulier also stood up. "Thank you very much for your time, Riwet." She bowed slightly and then raised her head to look at him. "Again, I hope that the clearers succeed."

He nodded. "Alright. See you later." She watched as he headed to the city gates and disappeared.

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Night time came early for SAO, especially for the ones occupying the Paradis, the city closest to the 25th floor Labyrinth. Activities in this floor ceased at night because a thick fog enveloped the whole floor as soon as the sun set. There have been rumors that the fog affected all that it engulfed, dulling the senses and Skills of players, and making the monsters more unpredictable that they already were. Plus, it made traps much more difficult to find. Nobody was taking their chances, so the players would either sleep until early morning when the fog goes away or teleport back to the previous floors to train more.

A black-clothed player sat at the bench, checking his Player Menu. _I need to level up a couple more times for the 25_ _th_ _boss raid two days from now_. He thought as he sorted his items out in preparation for tomorrow.

"Hey." He looked away from the Player Menu and saw a familiar face greeting him. "You look tired, Kirito."

"You're one to talk, Riwet." He quipped back at his friend, who also looked worn out.

"Can I sit next to you?"

Kirito nodded. "Go ahead." He said as he closed his Player Menu.

Riwet sighed as he sat. "I haven't really got a chance to hang out with you since way back in Tolbana."

"Yeah". He replied. Aside from occasionally messaging Klein and helping Asuna with quests, he avoided interacting with people during the whole beater thing, and then he was too busy with the Power Play after that.

"So, what's going on with your life?"

The swordsman shrugged. "You know. Nothing much. The same old beater." Riwet smiled slightly, as if he was trying to hold back from laughing at something that isn't supposed to be funny. "What about you? Is Argo annoying you as much as she's been annoying me?"

Riwet chuckled. "Eh. Not really that much these couple of weeks. I guess I've just been busy leveling up and getting better gear…oh, right! Yesterday, there was this group of people who I had to save from a monster ambush."

"Were they alright?"

"Yup, but it was a bit too close for comfort." Riwet admitted. "I was out collecting materials near Sud when I came across the party. The three of them are part of a guild that's operating in the lower floors, and they wanted to know what's happening on the front lines."

"My guess is, they didn't like what they saw?"

"Let's be honest here. _Nobody_ liked what they saw when we came here." Riwet commented dryly.

"That's also true. Though I gotta admit, I never thought that Kibaou of all people would be the one to keep us from giving up." The swordsman remarked.

"Yeah, he seems to have a thing for rallying people." The glaive-wielder agreed.

After a few minutes of relaxed silence, Kirito looked at Riwet. _He's come a long way_. He thought. _On the surface, he doesn't stand out very much. But he fights well, both alone and in a group._ He also recalled seeing him on all of the boss raids _. Man, he's been doing work, all right. Even I had to take a break from boss raiding once in a while…_

 _Wait._ The swordsman thought, his eyes widening as he realized something while observing his friend. On a player's cursor, there's a space. That space is filled with an icon of the guild the player's currently in.

Riwet's space was empty.

Kirito started speaking slowly. "I know this isn't my business, but…you're still playing solo?"

"…I still am."

"Haven't you tried joining a guild?" Kirito asked. "I've seen you fight. Parties would be happy to have you."

"...sometimes I wanted to, you know?" the glaive wielder replied. "At first, I just wanted to see how far I would get in playing solo. But that started to change as we went on. I…realized that it's something…more." He looked away from Kirito.

Kirito held up his hand, noticing the unease in his friend. "Hey. All of us have our own reasons. If you don't wanna talk about it, I'm not gonna force you."

Riwet looked back at Kirito, still slightly uneasy, but resolute. "No. I want to tell you because it's really been bugging me for a bit. It's just…don't tell anybody, alright?" Kirito nodded. Satisfied, Riwet looked away, peering into the night sky. "Unlike you, who risked your neck so that other beta testers get off the hook and played solo because of it, I just…I…" He trailed off, and sighed, "I'm addicted."

Kirito's eyes widened. "…what?"

"I'm addicted to fighting mobs and leveling up. And…that's all there is to it." Riwet sighed. "I don't have any tragic or heroic or any inspiring reasons why. I just…love fighting…killing mobs and…getting stronger because of it." He pause. "Most of the time, I forget to rest…and just…kept killing. Not caring about anything or anybody else." He sighed again and composed himself. "I'm just ashamed that I love it so damn much that I avoid joining a guild or partying with a group for a significant amount of time."

Kirito sat there, silent. _Time and time again, I've been proven that there's a lot more to a person than what they are on the surface._ He thought as he was trying to find the right words to say. After a few moments of thinking, the swordsman started talking. "Like I said, everyone's got their reason as to why they're here. Right off the bat, I can't say what reasons are right or what reasons are wrong." He paused. "But at the same time, you have the right to think about the positive things your actions have done. For example, instead of being here and indulging in your addiction, you chose to wait at the lower floors, trying to think about the reason you fight. You know what would've happened? Three people would've died on this floor yesterday."

Riwet's brow furrowed momentarily, but he quickly recovered. "You're right."

"Also, I kinda get the addiction. When you think about it, we're in a video game, after all. It's literally designed to be addicting." He stated.

"I hear ya." The glaive-wielder replied. He yawned and stretched his body. "If anything, I guess I can dish out and take in more than your average player because of that. The least I could do is help with the clearing, which I've been doing since December." As Kirito nodded, Riwet turned his head to face him. "Well, I've spent enough of your time discussing my mental issues. What about you, Kirito? Anything that you need to get outta your chest?"

Kirito grinned. "Nah, I'm good."

"You sure? Alright, then." Riwet stood and stretched some more. "As a way of thanking you for the pep talk, dinner's on me. You pick the place. You in?"

Kirito nodded, never missing the chance to eat free food. "I sure am."

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"Preparations for the raid are underway, Kibaou-sama." A player reported to his guild leader.

"Good. Notify me when all of our forces are ready." Kibaou ordered.

"Yes, sir." The player replied as he saluted and took his leave.

Alone in his office inside their forward base on the 25th floor, the orange-haired guild leader leaned back in his chair, rubbing his hands together in anticipation.

Earlier in the day, he received some very interesting information. Apparently, the rumors about the fog strengthening monsters were unfounded, on the last level of the Labyrinth at the very least. What's more is that, if they were to challenge the boss when the fog is at its thickest, which is around midnight, the boss' strength would be cut by _half_. His guild of 40 clearers will make short of the boss, and they will be the only ones to lavish in the spoils.

Even if information is too good to be true, he was willing to risk it. A boss in this floor would yield very good rewards, and the Aincrad Liberation Force will make use of all of it. After all, they can just use the crystals to teleport away when things get dangerous.

He remembered a fleeting memory, and his hands closed into fists. That black cloak. That pretentious grin. And that mocking tone. While he unfortunately forgot what that damned person looked like, he didn't forget the feeling of rage, the sheer _humiliation_ that he felt when that _beater_ talked down to him.

After a moment, his face contorted into a smug grin. Even for all of his talk, the beater was nowhere to be found when Kibaou took the reins and elevated his status to become the leader of all the clearers. _I win._ He thought. _Wherever you may be, it doesn't change the fact you call me_ leader _now, does it?_

 _And you know what else? After I kill this boss, you, and everyone else on this damn game will call me_ lord _._

With a self-satisfied smile on his face, Kibaou closed his eyes, resting his body for the coming midnight assault.

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 **A/N:** As of writing this fic, no canon SAO material explained how the hell the clearers reached the 25th floor in just two months, so I decided to write my own interpretation.

Also, I did a bit of editing on earlier chapters. I ran them through a grammar checker software I got recently. Nothing changed in terms of content. I really need to proofread more thoroughly. I'm not hoping that the software is gonna fix all of my mistakes, but hopefully having it will make things easier for me.

I also changed my updating schedule. I'll try to get a new chapter up within 30 days of the last post, but I might take longer, so no promises. I've edited the Chapter 1 A/N to reflect this.

That's all for now. Thank you very much, and have a good one.


	9. CH 9 - Rise of the Cobalt

Chapter 9 – Rise of the Cobalt

"Man, that dinner really hit the spot!" I rubbed my stomach as Kirito and I left a restaurant. "Good thing that I let you choose where we eat!"

"Hey, that's what I'm here for!" Kirito chuckled. Like seriously, aside from being a badass solo player, he's damn good at finding places where food is fan-freaking-tastic.

My mouth opened and I let out a long yawn. "Well, I'm off to hit the sack." It was the first time in a while that I actually looked forward to sleeping. I stretched my arms and legs.

Kirito also stretched his limbs. "Yup. You're right. Boss raid's in two days. Don't stay up too late playing video games or whatever you young 'uns call 'em."

"Yes, mom." I retorted, grinning. As I was about to leave, I turned to Kirito, closing my left hand into a fist and stretching my arm towards him. "Hey, if you need help with anything, or need extra muscle to get good loot, you know who to call, aight?" I smiled at him.

Kirito smiled back. "Hey, that's _my_ cool line." Our smiles turned into grins. "Seriously, though. When that time comes, I'll be counting on you. And when you have a problem, you can count on me." He reached out with his right hand and bumped his fist with mine.

"That's good to know." I replied. We gave each other one final nod, and we went our separate ways.

By the time I've gotten back to the room I've rented, I felt…tired. It wasn't the sort of exhaustion I felt in these last couple of weeks, where I'd lie on my bed, not being able to sleep for some reason, and then I'll get sick of not being able to sleep, get out, and kill mobs until I collapse. This was the good kind of exhaustion where I'd sleep like a log and wake up the next day ready to take on the world.

After taking a quick shower, I laid on my bed, closed my eyes and almost immediately drifted off to sleep.

I woke up in the middle of the night. Rubbing my eyes, I sat up and opened my Player Menu, checking the time. Half past midnight, huh? Seems like I slept for 5 hours. Pretty good, considering my previous average of three hours, and that's when I remembered that I have to rest. For the first time in a while, I felt quite refreshed.

Alright! Time to freaking go at it! Since this floor's all wonky because of the night mist, I should probably warp to a previous floor or something. I withdrew a teleport crystal and looked at it. These things are pretty damn useful. Not only that, there were other crystals for a lot of purposes, such as health restoration, debuff removal, and even for taking screenshots and both video and audio recordings.

I suddenly received a message from one of the clearers, Heathcliff. He told me to prepare for battle and meet up with the other clearers at Paradis as soon as possible. Canceling my teleport, I replied, saying I'm on my way. I get the feeling that this isn't gonna be good.

I quickly went to Paradis. After looking around, I saw the clearers gathering near the city exit leading to the Labyrinth. I joined up with them. Turning my head, I looked around. I saw Heathcliff talking to one of his guildmates.

"Hey." I heard a voice behind me say. I turned around and saw Kirito and Asuna.

"Hey." I replied back to him. "Asuna-san." I greeted Asuna with a nod, and she nodded back. I turned to head towards Kirito. "Any idea what the hell's going on?"

Kirito shook his head. "Nope. All I know is that it's from Heathcliff, so it's pretty important."

I nodded my head. Heathcliff is a respected player and has also amassed a following like Kibaou, but unlike him, Heathcliff preferred to stay on the sidelines, letting his followers do the most of the planning.

Which is why this message is nothing but important.

Speaking of his orange-haired Highness, where the hell is he?

"Is everybody present?" A loud voice cut through the commotion. The source of the voice was Heathcliff himself.

I raised my hand. "Excuse me, Heathcliff-san! Kibaou and the ALS haven't arrived yet!"

"Yes. That is true. Regardless, let's do a headcount. Aside from ALS, is everybody here?" After a quick minute of counting, we found that all of the clearers aside from the ALS were present. Heathcliff raised his voice again. "Thank you for coming here on such quick notice. However, the news I bear is quite unpleasant. An hour ago, Kibaou and the Aincrad Liberation Squad set off for the Labyrinth, and they are yet to return."

Most of us frowned. Sure, leveling at this time of night is rumored to be dangerous, but they're made out 40 clearers, man. They can take care of themselves.

However, no one was expecting what Heathcliff said next. "I am also reasonably certain that they are raiding the 25th boss as we speak."

We were flabbergasted. What the hell is that idiot thinks he's doing?! A wave of murmurs emanated from the assembled crowd, which slowly grew into a cacophony. Heathcliff sternly held his hands out, and that motion was enough for us to calm down and listen. "We don't have the time to bicker. We have to provide backup for Kibaou and the ALS." He paused, eyeing us evenly. "I will assume command for now, but if anyone feels that they are capable of leading us to embark on the most important rescue mission yet, I am willing to step aside." He stated, with absolutely no hint of sarcasm or condescension in his voice.

All of us stayed silent. While I can't speak for my fellow clearers, Heathcliff's no-nonsense attitude and commanding presence struck a chord with me, more than all of Kibaou's shallow speeches combined. As if taking our silence as an approval, Heathcliff quickly got back to the issue at hand. "Everyone, let us take a moment to form parties before we head out." He commanded.

I turned to look at Kirito and nodded my head, walking towards him. Kirito opened his Player Menu and sent me a party invitation. I accepted the invitation. He also sent one to Asuna, who accepted.

Once everyone had finished forming a party, Heathcliff nodded and made his way to the city gates. He pushed them open to reveal a dark path, further obscured by the thick fog. Undaunted, he strode forward confidently, his figure disappearing into the darkness.

The rest of us were quick to follow.

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The 25th Floor Labyrinth was already pretty dangerous, but the damn fog made it a lot worse. Aside from the obvious penalty in vision and Scanning effectiveness, I felt like the monsters themselves were using the fog against us, lingering just past my Scanning range and waiting to strike.

Fortunately, a group of 70 clearers made traveling inside the Labyrinth to be smooth sailing. All the traps were spotted safely, and regardless of any new tricks the monsters might have learned, our sheer brute force and numbers easily tore them apart.

However, as soon as we were close to the boss room, we heard a shrill scream, belonging to a player. No words were needed. All of us sprinted towards the double doors of the boss room which were left wide open.

Unfortunately, smooth sailing was not how I would describe what was happening inside the boss room.

"AHH!" A player shouted as he was sent flying, disintegrating into particles as he violently slammed into the ground.

"PLEASE! HEL—"Another player, pinned to the ground, never got to finish his plea, as the boss' giant foot stepped on him.

"HOLD THE LINE!" We saw Kibaou and what's left of the ALS trying to ward off the 25th Floor Boss, Sobek The Corrupted Terror.

The giant boss was a sight to behold – it towered over all of us, with our tallest player barely reaching past its ankle. Its two heads were covered by emerald helmets, intricately designed to resemble a crocodile's head, its eyes glowing with an unnerving ice-blue color. Its body was covered from its shoulders down to above its knees by dark emerald plate mail with round sapphire stones, etched to look like eyes, embedded in it. Its humanoid limbs, while unarmored, were unnaturally large and heavily built.

Sobek raised its hands and clasped them together. Then, with frightening speed, it brought its hands vertically downwards on a hapless player, with an impact so strong that it cracked the floor and rocked the boss room. The target, a player covered from head to toe in thick plate armor, barely got away with his life despite his sturdiness as a tank.

It was a massacre. In just an hour fighting the boss, the Aincrad Liberation Squad, a guild made out of 40 battle-hardened clearers, were reduced to desperate people struggling for survival. Like a bunch of trees bending and breaking whilst inside of a goddamn storm.

And the worst part of it all? After all of that, the ALS were only able to deplete the first out of Sobek's _six_ health bars.

We wasted no time in running to support the guild, with each group instinctively taking up their roles – the tanks charging forward and aggroing the boss, the DPS glass cannons hanging back and waiting for an opening, and the rest supporting the two groups.

As we were running in, I heard one of the clearers shout at an injured ALS member. "What's wrong?! Use your crystals!"

"We can't! They're disabled!" The player replied feverishly.

 _What?!_ I withdrew a healing crystal and tried to use it, but it didn't work. "Everyone! Crystals are disabled! We're back to using potions!" I shouted as I charged into the fray with Kirito and Asuna.

Once again, Sobek raised its hands and clasped them together, targeting one of our tanks. As the attention shifted away from the rest of us, we poised ourselves to attack.

Sobek slammed its hands down again. This time, however, its target quickly darted to the side.

"NOW!" With a mighty cry, our group charged in. While Sobek's slam attack was nothing short of terrifying, afterwards it's stunned post-motion and in a vulnerable squatting position.

We focused our Weapon skills on Sobek's limbs, and it eventually lost all of its balance and fell to its side.

"SWITCH!" One of the tanks shouted as we stepped aside to make room for the DPS groups, who were rearing up to deliver copious amounts of damage to the giant. One of them noticed a crack on the giant's breastplate and directed their attacks on it. By the time Sobek was able to recover, its armor was visibly cracked and it lost 10% of HP on its second HP bar.

Kibaou and the ALS regrouped and rejoined the raid, with Kibaou explaining how they lost half of their forces. Turns out, when the two-headed giant does the slam attack and the players couldn't do enough damage, its heads will breathe enough fire to engulf the whole arena. Further questions, like what the hell were they thinking, were put on hold. We have a boss to kill.

The boss raised its foot, preparing for a stomp attack. "He's targeting me!" I shouted. The players ran away from me as I prepared to dodge.

When Sobek brought its leg down, I jumped back, evading its attack. I gritted my teeth as the shockwave from the impact of the stomp pushed my body backwards violently. Despite it almost toppling me over, I held my ground. As soon as the shockwave subsided, I charged forward, activated Cleaving Blitz and slammed my glaive towards its exposed Achilles' heel. Unsurprisingly, it fell forward, and we resumed the barrage.

This pattern continued on for a little while. Sobek would wind up a strong but predictable attack, and leave himself wide open for retaliation. Eventually, one of the more perceptive clearers figured out that if we attacked Sobek while it's winding up, it'll fall down easier and it'll stay down for longer. Which we did. More cracks appeared on the giant's breastplate as its body was being damaged.

As we continued our relentless, and most likely reckless playstyle, I couldn't help but think of what that NPC back on the 24th floor was saying. At the same time, it's working. We've learned our lesson. Well, at least part of it. We haven't yet overextended our attack, and we back away when we see that it's too risky to continue. Nevertheless, it's only a matter of time before Sobek stops luring us into a false sense of security. And when that time comes, we'll be ready.

Well, that's what I thought at first. Then, we finished depleting Sobek's fourth HP bar.

Almost immediately, it let out a roar that shook the area. We held back, waiting for it to strike. Then, it raised its fist again, targeting one of the tanks. So far, no immediate change in pattern.

"CHARGE!" Kibaou screamed suddenly. Is he losing his mind? The rest of the clearers were caught off guard as the orange-haired player and all of ALS charged the boss.

"Wait!" A clearer shouted, and I'm compelled to obey. While the other clearers looked hesitant, common sense finally caught up and they stood back, shouting at ALS to do the same.

It was too late. The boss' eyes started widened and glowed brighter as its hand started to be enveloped with a dull gray light, and then the ground exploded.

When the smoke cleared, we were horrified at what we saw.

Sobek's giant fist was slammed into the ground, hitting three ALS members and pinning them. The attack was almost instantaneous, despite Sobek's sheer size. Well, now we know what changed in his attack pattern.

Sobek was now able to use Martial Arts Skills.

All three of them screamed out, with one almost having a mental breakdown as he was the only one who didn't lose all of his HP and was forced to watch as his two guildmates wasted away into particles as they forced out a final, blood-curdling wail.

The other ALS members were blown back, stunned, and the rest of the clearers also felt the impact from where they stood.

As if sadistically relishing its action, Sobek put even more pressure on its arm as it twisted its fist. We ran as fast as we could to the player as his body was twisted and torn apart. When we were halfway to reaching him, his HP was fully depleted. Before he disintegrated into particles, he silently looked at us, his face contorted.

My body froze. I glanced at Asuna. Her skin pale, she covered her mouth with her hands as she stared wide-eyed, unable to look away. I looked at Kirito. He hung his head low and turned his head to the side. I turned my head and looked at the rest of the clearers, who had the same reactions, with some even heaving dryly.

Sobek drew its arm back, standing upright. Then, it hung its head back and let loose an animalistic roar. Snapping out of their collective stupor, the clearers began moving again, but they were moving slowly and sluggishly.

Not me, though.

For the first time in a while, I felt that my body was burning. Every thread of my being gave up on all other actions besides the ones that will get me what I want.

What do I want?

I want to _kill_ this boss.

I want to stab it until it turns into _fucking mush._

And yet, despite the boiling, seething feeling I got, my mind was focused.

"Kirito. Asuna-san." I called out. Both of them turned their heads to face me. "I'll distract it. You guys see what you can learn from its new movement pattern." I was surprised at how calm my voice sounded.

They nodded and moved behind me. I pursed my lips for a moment and relaxed them into a slight smile as I slowly walked towards Sobek, my glaive at the ready.

 _We have work to do._

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As I went close, I drew a throwing knife and threw it at Sobek. In retaliation, the 25th floor boss swatted the knife away with its hand. Its full attention trained on a new target, it started to walk towards me, raising its right hand which started to glow. It promptly brought it down to me.

I guess looking at the attack from a distance is different from being its target. Back when it first used it, I didn't even see it move. Now? Now it's different. It was as if time slowed, and I was able to see it coming.

I activated a polearm Weapon Skill, Fierce Descent. My polearm glowed green, and I jumped into the air, avoiding Sobek's Skill. I brought my weapon down at its fist, stabbing the giant between its knuckles. As it let out a pained scream, I pulled my polearm out of its hand and jumped back. Sobek kneeled, its other hand cradling its injured hand.

We inched forward, cautiously waiting for a reaction. We would've leaped in, had we not seen Sobek's eyes flash.

We backed away, just in time to avoid Sobek's uppercut. Since it was crouched, the attack was at an awkward angle and would've caught a lot of us, but the giant also lost its balance and fell on its back.

"NOW!" We unleashed a flurry of pain that lasted for a full minute. The DPS group completely shattered its breastplate, exposing and attacking the new weak point. The rest of the clearers also contributed a large amount of damage. Kirito and Asuna were in the thick of it, unleashing Weapon Skills nonstop.

For myself, I set my sights on the giant's injured hand. After taking a stance, I activated a Weapon Skill, Deadly Rhapsody. After taking a moment to wind up, I lashed out with a downwards swing, coupled by three stabs and finishing the combo with an upward slash. Sobek let out another shrill shout as my skill made noticeably deep cuts to its fingers.

A 5-hit Weapon Skill for Polearms that could both stab and slash, Deadly Rhapsody has remarkable damage, but it is pretty situational. Its wind up, slow attack execution, and long post-motion delay makes it a bit cumbersome, especially when you're fighting agile enemies or when you're surrounded by a group of enemies. Doubly so when you're a solo player. But when you're targeting a monster that couldn't move or fight back, Deadly Rhapsody's going to deliver.

Enraged, Sobek scrambled up to its feet and bellowed, its fifth HP fully depleted and its chestplate completely shattered. I guess whatever buffs he might have had after we shaved off four of its HP bars were now offset by having weaker defensive stats.

With only its final HP bar remaining, the giant once again changed attack patterns. After it shouted, it crouched down on all fours, rearing its twin heads to face us. The lights gleamed off of its emerald helmets, adding an ominous but morbidly beautiful green sheen.

The tanking group, including me, started to approach Sobek closely. Having none of it, the boss started to move. Rearing up, it galloped on all fours towards us with ridiculous speed, scaring the shit out of all of us. As we froze like a deer caught in headlights, the giant's helmets started to glow.

As Sobek got close, its helmets opened as it lunged at us. It was as if its helmets came to life and that Sobek now had metal crocodile heads.

"RUN!" Someone shouted as I dove out of the way, barely avoiding the boss. As I turned around, I saw that one of the clearers weren't so lucky. He was caught by one of Sobek's heads, part of his body impaled by the emerald teeth of its lower jaw. Any moment now, that bastard's gonna close his mouth. I can't let that happen with the player still trapped there.

Springing into action, I immediately unleashed a Cleaving Blitz on the side of Sobek's body. Sobek thrashed around in pain and knocked me aside, but the giant's lower jaw slackened, and the player was able to get himself out. I got up and dusted myself. This isn't gonna be good.

While I made a good hit with Cleaving Blitz, the formation was a mess. The boss' new attack pattern was too mobile, too disruptive that we couldn't group up and plan for an attack, leaving us scattered all over the place. Worse, the boss didn't have that much post-motion delay on most of its new attacks and would jump away once we were about to attack.

"Kirito, Asuna-san." I called their attention as I ran towards them. "Any ideas?"

"It's close and pretty risky, but I think we can nail him when he's busy attacking someone." Kirito explained. Asuna nodded her head in agreement. "We just need a distraction."

I nodded. "I can do that."

Kirito took a moment to look at me, then nodded his head. "Ready when you are."

We quickly took our position, with me walking directly towards Sobek while Kirito and Asuna started to flank it. I drew a throwing knife and threw it at the boss. Once again, it didn't do any noticeable damage, but it did draw its attention towards me. I rolled to the side as the giant leaped towards me, avoiding its attacks.

That was their cue. My two teammates rushed towards Sobek. I just need to keep the bastard's attention to me.

The 25th floor boss, still aggroed towards me, went on the offensive. Too slow. I weaved my body around, dodging and parrying the flurry of attacks. Just stay calm and look out for surprises.

Sure enough, Sobek raised its hand, and it started to glow again. Fortunately, Kirito and Asuna pumped out enough damage to stagger it. As Sobek lost its balance, everyone who was ready and fast enough to react joined in and helped damage the boss.

Despite the boss' aggressive playstyle, we were learning its attack pattern and we were slowly chipping away at its health. We didn't come all the way from the goddamn mazes of the 25th floor just to be curbstomped by Killer Croc. The ALS might, but I shift all the blame to Kibaou and some of his most fanatical lapdogs.

Eventually, we knocked Sobek down when his last HP bar was down to a third. A resounding thud echoed in the boss room as the twin-headed giant's body hit the floor. Time to die. Time to _kill_. Overwhelmed by adrenaline, we laid waste to Sobek. I stabbed and sliced with Deadly Rhapsody. Kirito swung four times, tracing the shape of a square. Asuna stabbed three times with blinding speed.

Unfortunately, that wasn't enough.

 _ *****  
End Music  
*****_

Sobek, with a tiny amount of HP left, thrashed about, forcing us back. Then, it wildly lunged at us, knocking a group of players off a long distance. I was slammed into the ground and almost passed out as another player landed on me, his elbow smashing my face.

I laid still, dazed. I heard a large impact and tried to stand, but I was stunned. Eventually, the player laying on top of me came to his senses and moved his body away. Cradling my head, I sat up, trying to find my bearings. My body froze as Sobek turned its attention towards Kirito, who was sprawled on the ground, stunned.

 _I gotta move._

I felt every inch of my body telling me move. Fortunately, even though I got knocked down and my head felt like it was caved in, I still had my glaive in my hands. I quickly stood up, but my knees felt weak and I was forced to kneel.

 _Move_. _**Move!**_

 _ **MOVE!**_

Gritting my teeth so much that it hurt, I forced myself to stand up. But before I could run towards Kirito, I couldn't move. I was rooted on the spot, and it was only partly because of my head injury.

Somewhere deep inside my consciousness, a part of my psyche processed a line of thought.

 _Is it worth risking my own skin for it?_

My mouth slackened. Are you fucking kidding me?

Time seemed to slow down as Sobek stared down at Kirito and held its hand high. My mind flashed back to that poor player that was brutally twisted.

 _That's what's gonna happen to you if you fail. Do you want that?_

That's what's gonna happen to Kirito if you don't move in the next couple of seconds! What, you wanna abandon him _again_?

 _Well…yes._

My eyes widened. As much as I forced myself to tune out these thoughts and focus on saving Kirito, I felt weak-kneed. I was actually _considering_ on hanging back.

When you think about it, I'll have the chance to finish Sobek off when it's stuck in post-motion delay after it uses a Skill.

 _Someone else'll save him. Don't wo-_

I suddenly found myself in a city, with street lamps illuminating the small roads. Paradis?

Kirito stood in front of me, smiling. For some reason, I was holding my closed hand towards him. Before I really thought about what the hell was going on, Kirito spoke up.

" _Seriously, though. When that time comes, I'll be counting on you. And when you have a problem, you can count on me_." He reached out with his right hand and bumped his fist with mine.

 _Well, that's good to know._

 _ *****  
Cue Music: Megaman X8 OST – Jakob Orbital Elevator  
*****_

My mind snapped back into reality. All sense of hesitation was gone instantly. Up ahead, I saw Sobek's fist glowing.

Let's just stop thinking for a moment and just freaking do something, shall we?

I sprinted forward, faster than I have ever had as I threw caution to the wind. When it brought its hand down, I reached them and interrupted the attack halfway with a Linear. My Weapon Skill hit its hand and it deviated slightly, enough that it missed Kirito. His eyes opened tiredly and he looked at me, surprised. I nodded at him and turned my attention back to Sobek.

Still targeting Kirito, the giant started attacking again. I stood in between them, swinging my glaive to deflect its punches as Asuna was helping Kirito. Eventually, Kirito recovered, and he and Asuna ran to my side.

With its eyes glowing, Sobek charged. It raised its right hand to swipe at us. Kirito intercepted the attack with his Weapon Skill, blasting the arm backwards. It tried again with its other arm, and Asuna countered it.

With both of its arms crippled, the giant finally turned its attention to me, and then lunged, opening its two mouths and planning to swallow me whole.

"Riwet!" "Riwet-kun!" The two of them shouted. I swiped my blade to the side and made a stance, activating my most recently learned Weapon Skill.

 _Why don't you eat_ this, _instead?_

I slashed diagonally from left to right, tearing through Sobek's helmet. Almost immediately, I slashed diagonally from right to left, tracing the letter X. Steel blade met steel armor, and I felt a sense of satisfaction well inside me as I felt Sobek's helmet get ripped to shreds in the wake of my Weapon Skill, Pale Derision.

A two-hit Weapon Skill restricted to One-Handed slashing weapons like Swords and, to an extent, Polearms that are similar to Glaives, Pale Derision does decent damage for a two-hit Weapon Skill. But what it lacks in damage it makes up for utility. The execution speed is fast, and its wind-up and post-motion delay are pretty short. On top of that, the Skill feels really satisfying to use.

And now that it depleted Sobek's HP, it was quickly becoming my most favorite skill.

In one of the most breathtaking moments I ever had, Sobek's two heads cracked, with a bright light emanating from the cracks. The giant wailed pitifully as the cracks started spreading to the rest of its body. And, when it was completely covered by cracks, it exploded from the head down, filling the room with a bright light.

 _ *****  
Music End  
*****_

When the light subsided, a 'Congratulations' sign appeared, and I received a notification that I dealt the final hit, rewarding me with the Last Hit Bonus. With pure joy and satisfaction overwhelming me, my vision began to blur and my legs began to shake. I fell on my face, which actually shook me into my senses.

"Ugh." I grunted as I rolled to my side and laid on my back.

"Oi, you alright?" Kirito said worriedly as he and Asuna walked quickly towards me.

"Never been better." I grinned back as I picked myself up from falling. Everybody was cheering, relieved that we wouldn't have to deal with this floor again.

When the commotion died down, I saw Kibaou and the ALS quietly trying to leave. Normally, I would have kept my mouth shut. However, a combination of being overwhelmed by the feeling of success, and the last-minute head injury, made me want to give him a piece of my mind.

I drank a potion to replenish my HP. I may be about to do something stupid. "Hey, Kibaou-san! So what made you decide that you wanted to try your hand with this boss?" I shouted.

Kibaou slowly turned around, his face twisted as if I somehow insulted him. Good. "That's none of your business." He spat.

Well, that's true. But, I _really_ wanna drag this on. "Alright, then. Can somebody more important than me ask him what's going on? Because apparently I'm too much of a bottom feeder." I snidely replied.

"SHUT UP!" Kibaou snapped. All of the other clearers' attention were trained on him, and I was distracted by me regretting that I didn't bring any popcorn. "What're you all looking at?!" he shouted.

A clearer stepped forward. "You owe us an explanation, Kibaou!"

"I don't _owe_ you anything!" His Stupidness replied, earning him fierce glares from the clearing group. Kibaou's face twitched nervously. Is here about to lose it? Oh my god, it keeps getting better by the minute. "If I weren't here leading you, you bastards would've _given up!_ "

While he had a point, the clearers were having none of it. "Are you a hardcore beater? You sure sound like one." One player blurted out. I glanced at Kirito, expecting him to take offense at the statement. Instead, he looked somewhat bemused, as if also enjoying the show. He noticed me staring at him and he shrugged his shoulders.

As for Kibaou, he looked like he was having an awesome time being glared at by the rest of the players. "What was that?!" Kibaou shouted, but the clearers were slowly approaching him. Yep. Awesome time.

"We demand an explanation!" "You will tell us!" Kibaou was becoming increasingly flustered as the clearers came closer. Ooh boy.

Well, the fun lasted until players started pointing weapons. That escalated quickly. I activated Linear and struck the ground, creating a loud noise. As I got off of my combat high and my mental state normalized, I started to think straight again. I also became a bit uneasy as all of the players' attention turned to me. "Let's put those weapons away, shall we?"

As the weapons were sheathed, Kibaou had the time and space to recompose himself. "The ALS has taken a beating. We're off to recover our troops, so, as a whole, the Aincrad Liberation Squad won't be participating in clearing the floors anytime soon. This conversation is over." Kibaou rapped before scurrying away with what's left of his guild to exit the boss room where crystals can't be used, and they teleported away before anybody could say anything.

Well, there goes our 'leader'. I don't know about the other guys, but seeing Kibaou dressed down and beaten created no small sense of satisfaction in me. However, the reality of our situation was that there isn't any big guild to lead the battle. Most of the clearers realized that, and a heavy atmosphere developed in the room. In spite of that, one commanding voice was heard throughout the room.

"Do not worry. While we haven't faced a tragedy as severe as this, we are the clearers. We are the absolute strongest players in Sword Art Online. We _have_ to persevere, for the sake of clearing this game, and for the sake of the players who can't." Heathcliff said. He's right. We need to keep going, now more than ever. Look on the bright side. At least Kibaou's out of the equation. Someone who is actually respected and reputable could lead us now.

Someone like Heathcliff.

"Now, let us move on and finally unlock the 26th floor." Heathcliff stated. We nodded and walked to the other room.

As we walked to the next room, I opened my Player Menu. "You guys want part of the loot?" I asked Asuna and Kirito. As I've observed in doing boss raids, all players participating in the raid will get Col or a piece of equipment, but the primo stuff is handed to the player who got the last hit. While it's not customary to share it even with party members, since it was my first time last hitting a Floor Boss, I figured I should share it.

Asuna shrugged slightly. "You don't have to, you know." Kirito said, trying to make a straight face.

"Your face and body language tells me otherwise, Kirito." I snickered. While he had an almost perfect poker face, His eyes were glittering and he was even rubbing his hands.

He sighed and caved in. "Alright. Let's see the goods."

"On it." I opened my Player Menu and checked what I got.

Aside from the bonus Col and EXP, I was rewarded with four items. After taking a quick look at them, I gave away the two things I wouldn't normally use.

The first one was called a Royal Khopesh – a Curved Sword with a straight blade on its inner half, and the rest of the blade curved like a sickle. Its stats were really powerful.

The second one was a pair of light ceremonial gauntlets that boost the player's speed, in addition to having a defense stat on par with my medium-sized gauntlets.

I traded the first two things, along with a third of the Col reward, to Kirito and Asuna. I don't have any Skill level investment in Curved Swords, so I wouldn't miss the khopesh. While the light gauntlets rival my current gauntlets in terms of defensive stats, I got them from three floors ago and I didn't have the time to go to a blacksmith to look for better ones. In addition to that, either one of my DPS-focused teammates would make more mileage out of this piece of equipment than someone like me who likes balanced stats.

As they were bickering about who's gonna get what, I took a closer look at the two items that were left.

The first was called the Ebon Dagger, a one-handed Knife with a straight blade apparently made out of meteoric iron or some extraterrestrial material, and it showed. Despite having a relatively medium prerequisite Knife Skill level requirement, its stats were almost three times more than my backup Knife.

The second one was called the Cobalt Coat. It was a simple dark blue trench coat. It was a bit heavy for a coat, but it also provided a considerable boost in defense, much more than any average article of clothing.

I pulled the Cobalt Coat from my inventory and wore it. It fitted nicely with my armor, covering my whole body and ending a few inches below my knees. I also materialized the Ebon Dagger and sheathed it to my side, and stored my old knife in my inventory.

All in all, the rewards were really good. I'm sure that I would be using these two things for a very long time.

"Looks like you saved the best things for yourself." Kirito commented.

"That's the rule of the game, bruh." I quipped, smirking. "You want it?" I asked, my voice a bit more serious.

"Nah, I'm good with this." Kirito said as he withdrew the Royal Khopesh. "This'll fetch me a pretty penny." He had a greedy look on his face as he eyed his new prize.

"Not gonna use it?" I asked.

"Nope. I got no levels in Curved Sword skills." He grinned. He then rambled on and on about how much he can charge extra for it. About it being a one of a kind raid boss drop, and how its stats were enormous, and some other things. Well, whatever floats his boat, I guess.

Asuna silently equipped her new gauntlets. "Thank you very much, Riwet-kun." She bowed slightly at me. She was already extremely quick without the gauntlets. I look forward to seeing her break the sound barrier.

"Oh, yeah. I forgot. Thanks a lot for this, Riwet." Kirito added sheepishly.

"Don't mention it." I replied to them.

We finally reached the other room and saw the gate leading to the next floor.

"Now then. Would the player who killed the 25th floor boss step forward and do the honors of opening the gate for us?" Heathcliff asked.

I nodded at my party and walked to the gate, flipping the switch. After a dramatic rumbling of rocks, the path forward revealed itself. Wind swept through me, blowing back my new coat. A bright light emanated from the opened gate, beckoning us to our future. A future filled with pain and challenges.

We have lost a lot of players today. Some through sheer tragedy, and the others through the sheer stupidity and apathy of our previous so-called leader, who also tricked us, and then abandoned us. With 75 more floors to go, things are looking grim.

But the fight's not over yet. Someone else will step in to fill the role as our now leader, and I hope that the replacement's actually someone competent. We have successfully defeated the 25th floor boss, who was much, much more powerful than any of the bosses we've faced – a testament to our combined power and determination.

And lastly for me, while I hesitated once again when things turned grim, I was still able to save a friend. And that's good enough for me.

With my trusty glaive in my hand, I took a step forward. And another. And another. And soon enough, I was the first player to step foot on the 26th floor.

75 more. Bring it on.

 _ *******_  
 _ **Chapter End  
*****_

 **A/N:** Done and done!

Since Riwet did some pretty awesome things this chapter, I originally planned to have Riwet goad Kibaou into hitting him, turning Kibaou into an orange player, just to show how petty both of them could be. But I couldn't write it without the scene coming off as somewhat forced. Kibaou might be egotistic and close-minded, but he's not _that_ petty and stupid. Maybe next time.

I dedicate this part of the A/N to Prince of Light, as he wrote the first reviews of my story.

First off, thank you for your review. This is my very first fic and I'm still figuring out lots of things, but I'm glad that you like it.

For video game-esque stuff like side quests and whatnot, I have some things planned, but honestly, not really that many, because I want to finish at least the Aincrad portion of AWE in a timely manner. Regardless, it's a good idea to think of some more stuff if the story has a place for them. Thank you for the suggestion.

Last but not the least, shipping. Yes, it's going to be Silica. As for why her specifically, like I said, I didn't know why, I just wanted to. (It's because she's cute and adorable. Shhhh.) The reason why I didn't elaborate much on it on chapter 2 is because it's still a couple more chapters ahead before I get started on Romanccccccee.

As for creating an OC love interest, I honestly hadn't considered it. After thinking about it for a while, I've decided that I won't be doing that. Like I said, I want to progress the story in a timely manner. You already know who Silica is and what she's like, and I found it easier and more fun for me to just expand on her character rather than create a new character. I'm also paranoid that I would end up making the OC a Mary Sue perfect love interest for Riwet, which makes me look like a joke. I promise that I won't do that to Silica.

I'm also still figuring out how to write Romance without it derailing the main story. That said, I'll write some fluff here and there (but not too much), and (BIG MAYBE) a Romance-centered spinoff also starring Kirito and Asuna, and possibly some new…pairings.

That's right. Shipper 1 is on standby, with the slogan 'providing romantic opportunities for the OTPs and the rest of the bachelorettes'. And I (the author, not Riwet) stand command. KiritoxAsuna is _the_ OTP in my fic along with Riwet and Silica, so I'll try to give the other girls a better half (Disclaimer: Results may vary. It's the maiden voyage after all). I'll set sail someday, but not right now. As I previously said, timely manner and not bloating the story. I want to write lots of fluff someday, but for now, I have an adventure to tell, a king to kill, another king to beat the crap out of, and a queen to save.

Anyways! I am humbled to announce that at the time of posting this chapter, seven months after I started this fic, AWE has garnered 1000+ views, 10 favorites, and 14 alerts! Time to celebrate!

 _ **Cue 1000 *Doots***_

And with that, goodbye, 2016!

That's all for now. Thank you Very much, and have a good one.


	10. CH 10 - Back On Track

Chapter 10 – Back On Track

 _May 9, 2023_  
 _29th Floor_

I breathed a sigh of relief as I entered a safe zone. Setting my weapons down, I busied myself with replenishing my HP. Since I didn't particularly need instantaneous healing from an expensive Healing Crystal, I withdrew a health potion and drank it. I tasted a hint of citrus, and my HP started to replenish as I was drinking the contents.

I silently observed my constantly increasing HP. Well, it's gonna take a while. 25% of my health needs healing, after all. Aside from using an expensive healing crystal, I couldn't make my HP heal any faster. Also can't use Battle Healing because, well, I'm not in battle.

The 29th Floor looks pretty unusual. Aside from having numerous large rock formations, it had a couple of things that separates it from being a normal floor. First, the color of the grass covering the whole floor would change color once in a while. Secondly, there were floating islands in the distance. They were too far from where I was resting so I couldn't tell how big they are. Huh. Floating islands inside a floating castle?

Fortunately, the floor's pretty normal in terms of difficulty, as far as I could tell. While the monsters were very imposing, their difficulty's manageable.

As my HP slowly rose, I had a moment to reflect on the recent developments.

Things are going steadily. While our progress is nowhere as fast as our progress back when Power Play was in effect, it's still a respectable pace, comparable to our pre-Power Play progression.

The new primary clearing guild was also still going strong. The illustrious Knights of the Blood. A conglomerate of thirty high leveled clearers, the KoB served as our salvation. After clearing the 25th Floor, the clearers that were left, myself included, had nothing left to do but clear the next floor, knowing full well that we were too few and unorganized.

That's where they came in. When the time came for the boss raid, they made their debut. Clad in white and red, they strode in and introduced themselves. With the newly-established guild, we banded together and kicked the Floss Boss' ass. No issues, no monkey business, no fucking desertions, and absolutely no casualties.

Thank goodness Heathcliff is the leader of the Knights of the Blood, and to an extent, the whole clearing operation. Finally, someone who I can refer to as leader without having a bad taste in my mouth. Also kinda surprised that they made Asuna the sub-leader, but her rank was more than justified when her skills are taken into account.

Speaking of monkey business, the Army still has their heads up their asses. We haven't heard much from them since the 25th Floor boss raid, though I learned from Argo that they merged with MMO Today. I dunno what the hell made MMO Today merge with them, but I hope some other person would be appointed to be the leader. However, quite a few members left the Army and once again joined the clearers, and ironically, they were more respected than the ones who tucked their tail behind their legs and scurried away.

After my HP had fully recovered and my weapon durability reasonably replenished, I exited the safe zone and ventured into the field. There's an uncharted area not far from here. Better check it out.

 ** _***  
_ _Loading...Complete  
_ _***_**

Well, trees, trees, and more trees. I briefly opened the Map on the Player Menu and checked. Yup, the fog of war's diminishing. I better explore this part as much as I can and post it on the message boards.

As I started walking around, I felt uneasy. Dunno why, but this place creeps me out. I tensed up a bit, Scanning the perimeter…nothing. It might just be my imagination.

After taking a few more steps, I placed my hand on the handle of my glaive, which was resting on my back, but didn't draw it yet. Okay, this place is seriously setting off my warning signals. I scanned the perimeter again, exhaustively scrutinizing every single detail. Again, nothing. No monsters as far as I could see. Just these trees, some of them swaying slightly in the wind.

…only…I don't really _feel_ any gust of wind…

…wait a minute. I directed my attention to the trees. Come to think of it, the trees here look a bit …different compared to the ones a few ways back. No movement. When I slowly walked sideways, some of the trees shifted ever so slightly, like turning to face me. I also heard faint sounds of movement behind me. When I turned around, the sound stopped, and some of the trees were inexplicably closer to me and more bunched up.

An ominous sound emanated once again from behind. Rolling to the side, I was barely able to dodge what looked like a thick branch. I retreated a short distance away and looked at the bastards.

Treants. Of course. A staple in the adventure genre. Up until now, I've fought giant human-lipped Victreebel-looking freaks, Treant Saplings which were way smaller than these guys, and Flying Killer Coconuts. It was about time I'd see a proper treant.

Making sure no other monsters were nearby, I weighed my options as I observed my new enemies as five of them rushed at me-wait, moved at a leisurely pace. they moved like the Nepenthes in that they used their numerous roots to crawl slowly towards me. Aside from that, they looked very much like the normal, generic trees. However, their appearance benefits them in that they blend into the trees in this forest, and were even able to resist my Scanning Skill.

I drew my Reinforced Glaive from my back scabbard and tensed myself for battle, and I also drew a shield and held it close to my body. It's a good time as any to learn the treants' characteristics.

I took a Throwing Knife out of my inventory and threw it at one of them, dealing negligible damage and didn't produce any reaction from the crawling treant. When they got close enough, I weaved around them, dodging their attacks and blocking the ones I couldn't. In contrast to their movement, their attacks are quite fast, whipping me relentlessly with their branches. Them crowding me isn't making things any easier.

Alright, lesson's over. They're starting to get overwhelming. Seeing an opening, I closed the distance and used Pale Derision on one of the treants, stunning it. I disengaged and jumped back just in time to dodge a torrent of branches and barbed vines from the other ones. Before the treant was able to recover, I went back at it and hit it with Three Talon Strike, sending its HP below 50%. After a while, I got accustomed to their attack pattern and killed the treant entirely.

four more to go. Man, they sure are a handful. I took a look at my current HP. They were able to shave off quite a fair bit, even though I didn't take a direct hit. Admittedly, my current situation's a bit dicey, but it's still within my safety margin, and as long as I don't attract any more attention, things could only go easier from here. That being said, if worse comes to worst, they're too slow to catch me if I decide to run away.

As I weighed my options, a new opportunity appeared.

I heard movement, with the source rapidly approaching towards me. I turned to look at the source and breathed a sigh of relief. Players. Three of them. Eventually, they reached me and faced the treants, their weapons at the ready.

"Looks like you could need some help, Riwet." One of them said.

"It's not really that bad, but help's greatly appreciated, Ichi." I replied. Armed with a Partizan, a two-handed Spear with protrusions that boosts Parrying, and wearing armor with the KoB color scheme, Ichi nodded and focused his attention to the treants.

A skilled player in his own right, Ichi has been making tremendous contributions even before he joined KoB. He has been renowned for being both an effective leader and team player. I partied with him a handful of times mainly during Floor Boss raids, and he really delivers.

"Now I get to see The Cobalt in action again." One of the other players chuckled heartily. Also a KoB member, the player was armed with a Warhammer and a massive Tower Shield and was also covered in thick plate armor.

"Wilhelm-san. Let's do our best." I quipped, a little overwhelmed. Wilhelm was…quite something, to say the least. Unlike me who had little to no outstanding facial features even though I'm part Canadian, his face was distinctly western, accompanied by a pair of cheerful blue eyes. Somewhere in Europe? German, because of the name? not a hundred percent sure. He was kinda old, probably in his forties or something, but he was very energetic and cheerful, which made him pretty popular. He was also the first ex-Army player who came back to fight with us, gaining even more of our respect.

Last, but not the least, I turned and greeted the third person, who was silently been standing there. "Asuna-san."

She nodded her head at me. "Now, let's cut the small talk and finish up what we've been doing here." Friendly as always, huh?

"Yes, ma'am." Ichi replied as Wilhelm guffawed.

After taking a moment to explain my findings on the treants' movement pattern, we engaged them, and more thoroughly documented their attack patterns using our own playstyle. It was a standard procedure for evaluating how players with diverse playstyles would fare against enemies.

Asuna "The Flash" moved as fast as her namesake, deftly dodging and dancing between the blows. She moved so fast that she didn't even need to parry even the quickest of attacks. However, while she was certainly making it look easy, one couldn't imagine emulating this without having significant stat investment in dexterity and nerves of steel.

Conversely, Wilhelm trudged leisurely and laughed as the treants' attacks were deflected and neutralized by his massive armor and shield. Though, he has his fair share of problems, as he can't move fast enough to dodge reliably. Also needs a high Extended Weight Limit and Heavy Armor proficiency levels, and quite a bit of Col for repairs.

Fortunately, Ichi and I were not experiencing any major issues dealing with them due to our playstyles being not as specialized compared to the two. We dodged the stronger but more telegraphed attacks while blocking and parrying the faster ones. Ichi was doing an awesome job putting his Partizan's Parrying bonus to good use, and I was also getting a lot more comfortable with blocking.

After a short while, we've had enough data for their offensive capabilities. Time to test their defenses.

Asuna wasted no time in ending one of the treants, basically dismantling it with a flurry of strikes, stabs, and skills while she remained absolutely unscathed. Wilhelm killed another one, needing only a few swings from his gigantic hammer. Ichi and I took a bit longer using more practical methods, but we killed the last two without incident.

I scanned the area. Confirming that there were no other enemies in the vicinity, I relaxed slightly and heaved a sigh. "Well, that's that."

"Very nice work, everyone." Ichi said.

"Efficient and practical as always huh, Riwet?" Wilhelm remarked.

"Yup. I'm honestly too afraid to do what you're doing, so I'm sticking with what works for me." I replied.

"Don't sweat it, don't sweat it. Wahahaha!" the armored player began laughing heartily.

"Before I forget, here's the latest map data." I opened my Player Menu and shared my map data to them.

"We were actually here to do a quick scan of the area, but you already did it, and you even helped with documenting the new monster. Your contributions are appreciated." Asuna said formally as she received the information.

"Appreciated, and…compensated?" I asked mischievously, earning me a stern look from the sub-leader. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding. The loot I got is enough for repairs and some food." I've accumulated quite a bit of Col because I've been fighting like a madman, so I'm not really short on cash. Besides, I won't survive for long if I nickel and dime people who helped me, especially if they're part of the top clearing guild.

Asuna looked at me. "I assume that you're not going to have any problems by yourself?"

"No issues. None at all."

She looked at Ichi, and then at Wilhelm. "We've got what we came here for. We're leaving." Asuna announced, withdrawing and holding out a Teleport Crystal.

"Roger that." Ichi verbally complied, and both him and Wilhelm also took out a crystal.

"Stay safe, Cobalt." Wilhelm smiled and said to me before the three of them teleported away, leaving me alone once again.

Man, I wonder when the Cobalt stuff will end. Ever since I killed the 25th floor boss, people have started calling me "The Cobalt" in reference to the Cobalt Coat I earned and wore starting from that point in time. Granted, that title isn't half bad because it's a variation of blue, my favorite color, but I'm not really comfortable with being in the spotlight. Oh well, the only thing I could do is hope that I fade into obscurity post haste.

I took a crystal and warped towards the nearby city for repairs and resupply. The day's not over yet, so I guess I'd fix my stuff, rest a bit, and get back at it.

I can't believe that I'm still doing well as a solo player. Granted, I've been doing the occasional partying and nobody's complained about my performance in a team, but most of the time, I'm at it alone.

I walked slowly, contemplating.

Maybe I should finally consider joining a guild. Kirito said to me recently he didn't feel uncomfortable when we partied. I might have matured, or at the very least, gotten better at unconsciously masking my motivations. What mattered was that he felt safe when he's back to back with me and he reiterated that any clearing guild would be happy to have me, and that meant a lot.

Speaking of solo players and Kirito, I wonder how he's doing?

 ** _***  
L_ _oading…Complete  
_ _Changing Perspective: Third Person  
***_**

 _20th Floor_

Kirito sighed as he sat down on a grassy field inside the city, eating a piece of bread in his hand. The clear sky hung above him, and he savored the occasional gentle breeze.

He took a bite and stared at the distance, thinking about how he got into his present situation. A group of six players sat in the grass near him, players who he could call his guild mates. Lying next to him was Keita, their friendly guild leader, and DPS two-handed staff wielder, reading the latest newspaper.

Kirito's eyes wandered to the others, who were a bit farther ahead. Their second DPS, Sachi, silently looked on as Ducker, a self-proclaimed Treasure Hunter, was horsing around with Sasamaru, another DPS. On the side, the two forward tanks, Tetsuo and Sefton, were chuckling as they also observed the two rabble rousers.

He sighed again as he took another bite. He met them a month ago when he was farming for materials in a lower floor. Since he was playing alone, the guild thought that he was in trouble. In contrast, Kirito was far from trouble. They just came at the time when the black-clothed solo player was practicing his playstyle when he's surrounded. Since it'll cause a ruckus if he revealed his true level, he decided to play along. After "helping" him out, Keita invited him to join the guild.

Honestly, the only sensible response was for him to refuse. At that point in time, he's almost 20 levels higher than them. What benefit would he gain if he was to join them? But before he could reply, he was…taken aback.

He saw how close they are to each other. Keita explained that aside from Sefton, he, Sachi, Tetsuo, Sasamaru, and Ducker knew each other IRL, all of them part of their school's computer club. But even then, Kirito observed that such things didn't change their way of treating either him or Sefton. It was like they knew them ever since childhood.

Being a solo player wasn't that particularly difficult to Kirito. Him spending so much time with computers didn't help him gain many friends in the real world. Ironically, he met more people when he was trapped here in this virtual world compared to him just living his IRL life.

Nevertheless, prolonged isolation took a toll on him. The stigma of being a Beater also didn't help matters much. Normally, he would just endure the creeping loneliness, but there were times that the feeling was almost unbearable. And when that time comes, he felt the need to talk to someone.

It wasn't like he completely didn't have any friends. He could think of a handful of people in the clearers that would be happy to share a drink or team up with him. However, the clearers were busy enough with finishing the game and surviving. he didn't like the thought of wasting their time with something he deemed as ultimately trivial.

It was this reason that made him accept Keita's invitation. Not because Keita and the Cats could make him more physically powerful, but because he found a place where he felt he belonged.

"So…the clearers made it through the 28th floor and now scouring the 29th? Amazing." Keita remarked as he read the newspaper, providing Kirito with a much-needed distraction from his own thoughts. "Hey, Kirito…?"

"What's up?"

"What do you think is the difference between us and the clearing groups?" he asked.

Kirito pondered for a moment. "They all know the fastest ways to get EXP and the things that they want, and they barely share it." He replied, based on how an average player would think of the clearers. _To be honest, the fact that I lied about my level just to join you and feed off of your camaraderie adds some weight to that statement_. He thought bitterly.

Setting the newspaper aside, Keita stared into the sky as he lay. "Well, I'm sure that that's part of it. But I think it's willpower."

"Willpower?" Kirito repeated.

The guild leader sat up and looked at Kirito. "I suppose you might say it's a determination to protect one's friends…no, everyone." He then panned his eyes toward the others. "Of course, safety is our first and foremost priority, but someday, we want to make it up there, to the top, with the rest. Heh...Maybe." Keita concluded, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head.

"I see. Of course." Kirito replied. _As long as they don't give up, they would surely become clearers someday. Klein and the Fuurinkazan were extremely successful in that regard. Though, the_ clearers _are a bit more diverse in their motivations than you think, Keita. Especially since we have someone like me, and Riwet._

 _…_

 _Uuuh, no offense,_ _Riwet_. Kirito apologized in his mind.

"Wooh, so cool~" Ducker exclaimed as he leapt behind Keita and held him in a headlock from behind.

"Hey! Come on!" Keita gasped as the others walked towards them.

"Soo, we're going to be up there with the clearing guilds like the KoB, am I right?" Tetsuo smirked.

"What? There's nothing wrong with setting big goals, you know." Keita replied. "First we'll all hit level 30. With our crack team, we'll be there in no time!" He exclaimed optimistically.

Kirito smiled as he watched them. _Keita's_ ideals _could bring some well-needed optimism in the front lines_. Keita wrenched Ducker's arms away, got up, and dusted himself. "Alright, let's head out! Our levels' not gonna rise by themselves!" He announced, raising his fist. The group cheered in response.

As they were walking towards the city gates, Sefton walked to his side. "They're awesome, aren't they, Kirito-san?" He remarked. They both lagged a bit behind the Cats, far enough that only they could hear their conversation.

"Yeah, they are." The black-clad swordsman agreed. "Also, for the last time, stop adding -san to my name, Sefton." He added, trying to sound a bit annoyed. "I've been telling you that ever since I've met you, you know?"

"Sorry, sorry. Force of habit." Sefton apologized, bowing slightly at him.

"Geez…" Kirito muttered as he looked at Sefton. Even though they already knew each other for a month, Sefton was always a bit too formal to him, and to his guild mates. Kirito also observed that he had a few quirks, such as having little budgeting skills and that he always wants to buy weapons and armor that looks cool, but is inefficient. However, he's a nice person to talk to and he gets along with the whole group.

In contrast, during fights, he was a capable and reliable tank. Sure, he was still lacking in both statistical EXP and practical experience, but he had potential. He was also a quick thinker even when under pressure and is effective in adapting his playstyle to accommodate the others.

"You're pretty awesome too, Kirito-sa…Kirito." Sefton said as he looked at the Cats. "Had I not met them, I would still be on the 1st floor, mindless shambling and wallowing in self-pity. But you…you were a solo player before you joined us, right? That must've taken a lot of courage and self-motivation."

"Well...we all have our reasons, some...more "inspiring" than others. But for me, your motives aren't the most important thing, because that could change."

"Then…what is?"

"Who you are, the goals you set, and the actions you take now that you're actually here." Kirito answered.

"I see…I understand." Sefton nodded. "I perfectly understand what you're saying. Back then, all that I could think about was that I need to do something so I don't devolve into an empty shell of a person. But spending time with Keita-san and the Moonlit Black Cats changed that. Now, I want to do whatever I can to become stronger, to do what I can to help this guild grow."

"That's the spirit."

"Hey, what are you two hanging back for?! Let's go!" Keita shouted at the two.

"We're coming!" Sefton shouted back, then turned his head to face Kirito. "Let's go. Level 30's just around the corner." He smiled as he turned his head forward and jogged towards the Moonlit Black Cats.

Kirito smiled back, but as soon as everyone was facing away from him, his face darkened as he viewed his current level. Level 48. _Every night I've been power leveling in high-level dungeons by myself, so our level gap isn't gonna get shorter for a very long time. I don't know what their reaction would be when they eventually find out my true level. Would they resent me, a filthy beater who hides his level to intrude on their guild? Would they think that I'm silently laughing at how weak they are?_

Kirito shook his head vigorously. _Damn it. If nothing else, the least that I could do is to protect them from being chewed up and spit out by this world_. With renewed purpose, but worry clinging to him, the black-clothed swordsman steeled himself to undertake the task of helping the Moonlit Black Cats to great heights, and to deal with the consequences of his actions.

 ** _***  
_** ** _End Chapter  
_** ** _***_**

 **A/N:** And that wraps up the first chapter of 2017! I honestly could've finished this sooner, and I blame my insatiable addiction to complete Dark Souls 3. A hundred hours spent on this thing, and I still want more. Fortunately, I'm more or less done with it (for the most part...for now) so I can get back on focusing on this little fanfic of mine!

...Except I got hired.

Yeah, it's quite the thing. I just started, so it's too early to tell how much this affects AWE, but this year's gonna be hella busy for me. In spite of that, this year, I am aiming to finish at the very least the Aincrad Arc of AWE, factoring in the side stories that I already have planned, and possible side stories that may come out of my brain one day and just fits too well to omit. All of that combined makes a daunting task, but it's worth it. You could say that it was _a worthwhile endeavor_! _**U**_ _ **GHHHH BOOOOOOOOoooooooo...**_ ***Ahem*** Anyways, wish me luck. I'll need it.

That's all for now. Thank you very much, and have a good one.


	11. CH 11 - Promises and Partnerships

Chapter 11 – Promises and Partnerships

 _May 16, 2023  
11_ _th_ _Floor_

Kirito opened his eyes as he finished teleporting to Taft, the main settlement in the 11th floor of Aincrad. The night sky hung above the city, the moon working with the street lamps to keep the city illuminated. He shrugged off a cold breeze and started to walk slowly towards Moonlit Black Cats' headquarters: a small inn near the middle of the city.

As he was walking, he spotted one of his teammates dressed in his usual attire – dark yellow clothing underneath plate armor. Kirito walked silently towards the player.

The player saw him coming and nodded at him. "Good evening, Kirito."

He nodded back. "Sefton. What are you doing at this hour?" He asked.

"Oh, I was just window shopping at some of the NPC shops." He replied. "It's pretty relaxing, actually."

"I see…" Kirito muttered.

"How about you? What have you been doing?" Sefton asked.

"Just taking a walk, enjoying the scenery." He replied coolly. He was actually returning from fighting monsters at the Labyrinth of the highest floor. He has been doing this every night to keep up with the clearers as the EXP he gains from killing monsters at lower floors with the Moonlit Black Cats was nowhere near enough.

"Really? I should try that one of these days." The player mused. Then, he looked at the night sky. "Regardless, it's getting pretty late. Should we head back to the base?" He asked.

"Good idea." The black-clothed swordsman replied as they headed home.

They walked slowly at the cramped streets of Taft. The large European buildings made the road narrow, but it also provided players with inns, NPC shops, buildings that players could rent and set up shop, and so much more.

What Kirito told Sefton wasn't a complete lie. After completing his nightly excursions, he would walk slowly and take in the subtle atmosphere of the bustling city. It comforted him after the stresses of nightly high-level solo play.

As they were halfway home, Sefton saw someone he recognized. "Hey, Kirito…isn't that…" He trailed off.

"…yeah, that's her." Kirito replied.

"She looks a bit…down." Sefton frowned. "I don't know if she wants to talk to anybody, but I feel that we should at least try." He suggested.

"Mm." Kirito replied, following Sefton's lead as they saw her rounding a corner. The two of them caught up, and they found her sitting absently on a nearby bench.

As they walked towards her, she noticed the movement, and slowly turned her head to the side. "Kirito-kun? Sefton?"

Kirito silently nodded. Sefton walked a bit faster and stopped near where she sat. "Are you alright, Sachi-san?" He asked. Sefton has a knack of picking subtle cues in a person's expression and gestures, so when Sachi looked reluctant, he backed away slightly. "If you want us to leave you alone, we'll just be on our way." He quickly and politely added.

Sachi smiled back. "No, it's fine. You could stay. I just…" She trailed off, saying nothing more. It was pretty obvious that she wanted to confide in them, so the two players stayed silent as Kirito walked to Sachi's left and Sefton walked to her right, patiently waiting for her.

After a few short moments, she put her closed hand to her chest and took a deep breath, then she turned to the two. "Have you two ever thought of running away?" She asked.

"Running away…from what?" Kirito asked slowly.

"From this town…the monsters…from the black cats…from Sword Art Online."

Kirito and Sefton narrowed their eyes momentarily, and then their eyes widened as they both came to a realization. "You don't mean…suicide?" Sefton gasped.

"That might be okay." She replied absently. As both of them were stunned speechless, she smiled and shook her head. "No, sorry. That was a lie. If I really wanted to die, I wouldn't be here in the safety of the town, would I?"

As her two guild mates made relieved sighs, she continued speaking. "Hey…why can't we leave this place?" She pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. "Why do we have to die, even though it's a game? What's the point of it all?"

Sefton was once again out of words. Kirito however, had something to say. "I don't think that there's a point." He replied, his face stern. Sefton tried to say something different compared to Kirito's answer, but deep within himself, he agreed with his statement, so he just nodded.

A few more moments passed in silence. Kirito looked up at the night sky as Sefton and Sachi stared into space. Sachi seemed to relax her legs down, only to hug them even tighter as she took another deep breath. "I'm afraid of dying." She muttered. "I'm scared, so scared that I haven't been able to sleep lately…" She shivered, tears threatening to fall from her eyes as he hugged her knees.

"You won't die."

"Eh?" Sachi gasped as she and Sefton turned to the black-clothed swordsman as he looked into the sky. "Really? How can you say for sure?"

Kirito continued. "The Moonlit Black Cats is a strong guild. Our margin of safety is well above average. Plus," He turned his head to face the two, "Sefton, Tetsuo, and I are here. Right, Sefton?"

The forward tank was a bit startled upon mention of his name, but he quickly recovered and nodded his head vigorously. "Absolutely." He said, determination palpable in his voice.

"See? You have nothing to be worried about. I'm sure the clearers will beat this game eventually. But for the mean time, you'll be safe. I promise." Kirito assured her.

Sefton steeled himself. "You have my promise as well, Sachi-san. And I will carry that promise to everybody in the Cats." He smiled at her. Kirito was impressed by his declaration.

"You guys…" She looked at Sefton, and then at Kirito. The tears that she was holding back finally fell, and she sniffled once and wiped the tears off her face. Then, she looked at the two. "Kirito-kun…Sefton-kun…thank you. Thank you." She said while giving the two of them a radiant smile.

After a few moments, Sefton spoke up. "It's getting pretty late. Let's head home." He extended his hand towards Sachi.

"Okay." Sachi replied, extending her hand to hold his.

But before their hands touched, they heard a faint rumbling noise. They turned their head to the source of the noise, and they saw Kirito guiltily looking away while cradling his stomach.

"Pfft…hehe." Sachi started giggling. Sefton also started snickering. Kirito hid a smile, successful in breaking the tense atmosphere.

"There's an NPC restaurant nearby. Open 24/7. My treat." Kirito announced.

"Well, there's not a lot of things worse than going to bed hungry. Let's go." Sefton said as Sachi nodded. "Well, it's the first time in a while that you treated us to food."

"If you weren't treating us to food so much and weren't buying equipment that does little else than looking cool then maybe you won't have an issue with budgeting." Kirito replied cheekily as they started to walk.

"But it's cool!" Sefton replied indignantly. Kirito and Sachi both smiled at his childish reaction, relieved that someone like him is their ally. While he has a tendency to have difficulties in managing his Col, at the end of the day it's not really that big of an issue. Plus, the rest of them could see whether the equipment is really bad or not. Kirito himself was a bit impressed at the equipment he once thought as inefficient, as Sefton enjoyed success with some of it.

The three of them walked side by side, the petite spear-wielder in the middle of the two vanguards – the swordsman clad in sleek black, and the swordsman clad in dark yellow under steel. Their playstyles and personalities might be different, but they felt comfortable with each other, a bit more compared to other people in their guild. The feeling was mutual, but not romantic. For each of them, the other two were like siblings.

They walked on silently, each one of them contemplating.

Sachi looked at Kirito, then Sefton. Then, she smiled and looked forward. While fear still lingered within her, courage and determination welled up inside her as she stood side by side with her two friends. Kirito - sometimes distant but is always helpful, his knowledge of this game proving invaluable in making the whole guild grow. Sefton – naïve, sometimes childish, and polite to a fault, but he is a reliable support that made her feel safe, even in the heat of battle.

She knew both of them for less than a year, and yet, they promised to protect her. While she was too hesitant to do the same at this time, she made a promise to herself that she would to her absolute best to make their job at least a little bit easier.

Sefton had a neutral expression, but he felt anxious. He might have said a bit too much. Can he really protect them? He snuck a glance at Sachi, admiring her resolve. While he too felt nervous in battles, his large HP and armor made him feel safe. To abandon his armor in favor of sheer offense is something that he would be too scared to do, and he has nothing but respect for his two friends. Kirito is proficient in being both a DPS and an unconventional Tank. He does so much damage and while he's not really taking hits, he kept on keeping the aggro by dodging and weaving blows and generally being up close and personal. It gave him chills just watching him fight.

He shook his head and steeled himself. Since he understood how scary combat is, the least he could do would be to make his friends feel as safe as he could. He clenched his hands. His goal has been set, and his promise has been made. Time to make sure he kept it.

Kirito also held a neutral expression, but he had mixed feelings. He felt closer to them, and at the same time, that closeness brought guilt, as he still hadn't revealed his true level yet, even though Sachi laid her feelings bare and it was the first time he saw the soft-spoken Sefton that determined. However, he shook off this feeling weighing him down and focused on his goal that he set a week ago. It's the least that he could do.

Though, after they reached the restaurant and had a hearty meal, their worries seemed to ease, and when they went home, they felt eager to take on the battlefield and live for another day.

***  
Loading…Complete  
***

 _June 21, 2023  
_

My coat ruffled wildly as I weaved in and out of a Blood Wolf's attack. It was pretty fast, but I've seen and killed faster monsters. After its attack, I charged at it relentlessly until I killed it.

That's another one down. I slapped the dust off of my cape as I sheathed my polearm and walked onwards, arching for more enemies.

The Wolf Plains in the 28th Floor has proven itself to be a very reliable place to get stronger, even though the front line's currently at the 30th Floor. The plains are populated solely by Blood Wolves. They were similar to Dire Wolves, but they were stronger, faster, larger, and sporting two tails and blood-red skin. However, they are the only monsters that spawn in those plains so there's no need to worry about other monsters with different attack patterns. And hey, I've got more than my fair share of experience in battling wolf-type enemies, so I can kill one no problem.

I took a look at my left where the sun was setting, tinting the land with a saturated orange hue. Either my virtual eyes were very strong or the game designers purposefully reduced the glare, but I felt like I could stare at the sunset for a long time without my eyes hurting.

I sighed and adjusted my coat. After one last minute of gazing the scenery, I shook myself awake and moved on. While I could stare at the setting sun and relax for a long while, I'm almost about to level up. Time to pick up the pace.

And with that, I cut my thoughts off and darted to the side, dodging an attack from a Blood Wolf that leaped from behind me.

 *****  
** _ **Cue Music: Red Alert 2 OST – Grinder  
**_ *******

Rolling to the side, I quickly unsheathed my glaive and activated a Weapon Skill, Splitter Leap. It was a one-hit Skill consisting of a very hefty charging stab that dealt moderate damage but covered a lot of distance. Sure enough, it hit the wolf, toppling it over and sending it tumbling a short distance away.

As I had to wait out its brief post-motion delay, I hear a familiar barking behind me. Well, I guess we're doing this again, huh?

Only this time, I'm stronger. _A lot stronger._

As soon as my post-motion delay wore out, I heard the wolf behind me starting to run. Remaining calm, I drew a Throwing Knife and threw it at the wolf in front. It survived with quite a bit of HP left, but it was left stunned for a while. Good enough for me. Standing still, I braced myself and waited.

As soon as the wolf behind me was in optimal range, I activated Fierce Descent, jumping upwards to evade the attack and landing directly above the wolf's back, running it through with my glaive and forcing it off of its legs.

I jumped off of the wolf waited out the post-motion delay. The delay was enough for the wolf to recover and prepare to lunge at me.

A minor setback, if you could call it a setback at all.

As it started running, I observed it absently, my delay almost finished. While it bared its fangs at me as it sprinted like a speeding bullet, its menacing characteristics do nothing to shake my psyche.

The delay ran out and I regained the ability to move while the Blood Wolf was still a fair distance away, which sealed its fate. As expected, it lunged at me as soon as it was in range.

I retaliated by countering with a Pale Derision. The blade of my glaive stuck the wolf, completely dissolving it into particles.

I turned my attention to the first wolf. Its front leg was crippled and it was limping towards me. Not taking any chances, I quickly killed it. With that wolf done, I turned around to face the rest of them.

Only, there wasn't any of them left near me.

 _ *****  
End Music  
*****_

…

Huh. Could've sworn that there were three more.

It only took a moment for me to realize. I smiled wryly and rubbed the back of my head.

Well, there _were_ three more…like, seven months ago.

I opened my Player Menu and checked my stats. While my weapons' durability decreased ever so slightly, I did not lose even a single point of HP.

I exhaled briefly, closed my Player Menu, and walked.

Has it already been seven months? Man. On one hand, time flew by really fast, but on the other hand, I feel like I've lived here my whole damn life.

I heard the sounds of battle coming from nearby, pulling me out of my thoughts. I'm pretty confident that whoever's fighting these things probably knows what they're doing, but I'll check it out regardless.

I jogged to the source of the noise which was on the other side of a hill. As soon as I reached the top, my face relaxed.

"Come here, mutt!" Exclaimed the red-haired player, as he led a Blood Wolf Leader to a wider space. His two guild mates were beside the wolf, flanking it on either side. Compared to a Blood Wolf, a Blood Wolf Leader is bigger and has three spikes protruding from its back. I've avoided farming this particular type as a solo player like me can't gain the bonus EXP it gives when killed by a group.

Eventually, the wolf lunged at the player. In retaliation, the player activated what I assumed would be a one-hit Katana Weapon Skill designed for counterattacking, as the Blood Wolf Leader died and disintegrated in one fell swoop.

Well, seems like Klein and some of the members of the Fuurinkazan's working hard. Klein sheathed his sword and sighed. Then, he abruptly opened them and looked somewhat confused, probably noticing that someone was watching them. He looked at my direction, saw me, and smiled. "Hey! Riwet!" He turned to the others, second-in-command Dale and spearman Issin. "Hey, guys! The one and only Cobalt has graced us with his presence!" Dale and Issin waved back.

I ran down the hill and got closer to them. "Come on. Enough with that." I said as I made an exaggerated scowl.

Klein got closer and started slapping my back. "You might not like it, but you've been the talk for quite some time, you know." He explained with a mischievous grin, before dramatically raising his hands and making a grasping motion. "Once an unassuming spear-wielder, the left-handed solo player only known as "Riwet" has successfully finished off the 25th Floor Boss with unrelenting force." His face broke into a chuckle as he recited the newspaper article that put me in the spotlight. "Don't worry. Even if everyone forgets, we'll keep the legacy of the Cobalt living." The three of them got a good laugh at that.

"Ugh…." I groaned. "Yeah…that's...a thing. But…I also heard about you guys." I sighed. "The Fuurinkazan - a guild of clearers-oh sorry, I meant "gentlemen" - forged by fire, led by the stalwart samurai Klein. How in the world did you convince Argo to write that?"

"Well, if I told you that I said to Argo just to write that which is the plain truth, would you believe me?" Klein asked expectantly. I just stared blankly at him. "No? Okay then. I guess I was in the right place at the right time to get a dogged player off of the Rat's back. She said that she'll add it as a way to get female players to notice u-*Ahem*- I mean, a good way to advertise our guild."

"…" I have no words to say. I turned to Dale and Issin. "You guys got something to add?" I ask, hoping for a sensible reply.

"Actually, there is." Dale started. Issin nodded wordlessly. Finally, I can get some common se-"I like the way you emphasized the fact that we are gentlemen." Dale said. Issin nodded wordlessly.

"…"

"What?" The two of them asked.

"…never mind." Well, if nothing else, they get along like peanut butter and jelly.

I was about to say something else, but I stopped abruptly when I sensed movement from the other side of the hill, getting closer to us. The three of them also noticed. Three Blood Wolves and Three Blood Wolf Leaders emerged from the top of the hill, their eyes trained on us.

"Well then, gentlemen, it seems that we have to deal with some small fry." I declared. "Or should we make a gentleman's retreat?" I suggested. They might have a good reason to retreat for now, and while I'm no stranger to killing groups of wolves, this particular combination could be tricky.

Fortunately, Klein grinned eagerly. "Are you kidding me? Let's get 'em." He declared, unsheathing his Katana as the others followed suit.

With that, the four of us charged at the wolves. I was able to aggro the three normal wolves while they handled the Leaders.

I danced around the three, dodging the trio of red dogs. While I can dispatch them quickly like I did before, I don't want to get used to that kind of reckless strategy, so I performed a slow and methodical approach, using my glaive to poke at them from a safe distance while I patiently waited for an opening.

"Let's bunch 'em over to that side!" I heard Klein say.

The strongest members of the Fuurinkazan were having a blast at dealing with the Leaders. It's already pretty impressive that each of them could hold a Blood Wolf Leader on their own, but they can seamlessly transition into fighting as a group.

As expected of a clearing guild that hadn't lost a single member since the start of SAO.

I killed my targets at the same time as Fuurinkazan did, the four of us none the worse for wear.

I sighed as I brushed the dust off of my coat. "Amazing. I wish I had teamwork skills that effective." I said to them.

"Says the guy who had the time to ogle at us while being smacked around by three wolves." Klein replied, smirking.

I shrugged, then scanned the perimeter. "Well, this part's done."

"Yup. We're ready to move on. Wanna join us? We got room for one more." He offered.

Well, why not? I was about to say yes, but a notification popped up. "Hang on for a second." I opened my Player Menu. A message?

My eyes widened as I saw the name of the sender. I quickly read the message and replied that I'm on my way. "Uh, sorry, something came up." I said to Klein as I closed my Menu. "In fact, I should get going right now."

"Okay." Klein shrugged. "Must be something pretty important."

"Yeah…" I trailed off. "Anyways, I'll be going now."

"Sure. See you later."

I bowed as the three of them said their goodbyes and moved further down the Plains. When they were a bit far away, I took out a Teleport Crystal. Before I teleported, I looked up at the night sky and gazed at the moon. While there were little to no clouds to hide it, it took the shape of a crescent, filling part of it with darkness.

After I teleported to the main city of the 26th Floor, I walked to the direction of the KoB's headquarters, contemplating.

I wonder what Heathcliff wants with me?

I arrived at the front of the KoB headquarters. A KoB member was standing outside, waiting for someone. Well, looks like they sent someone to get me.

"Good evening, Riwet." He greeted me as I walked to him.

"Good evening, Ichi." I greeted back. "I came here because Heathcliff messaged me?"

"That's right. He's expecting you, but a meeting suddenly came up. Let's go inside and wait." He said.

"Okay." I followed Ichi inside the KoB HQ, which looked like a house. When I was inside, I got some weird looks from the other KoB members, but after a short while they shrugged and continued with what they were doing.

"You can sit over there." Ichi said as he pointed to a couch.

"Thank you very much." I replied as I sat. Ichi also sat on a nearby chair. I opened my Player Menu and sorted out my stuff while I waited. Hmm…I should probably resupply later after this is done.

After I've finished that, I closed my Menu and leaned back on the couch. "So, anything new happening today lately?" I asked, stretching my limbs.

Ichi sighed. "Well, the Leader of the Divine Dragons Alliance is currently talking to Heathcliff-san right now. Get this: The DDA leader "demanded" a meeting." He explained, baffled.

"Hmm." The Divine Dragon Alliance. In terms of power, this guild rivals KoB. However, it's due to the fact that they've been known to hoard both information and farming areas. In addition to that, a certain rat told me that, in quite the contrast to KoB's intensive recruitment process, the DDA lets all kinds of players into the guild, provided they make frequent contributions to their treasury. They're definitely not the kind of people I wanna hang out with. "Well, enough of that. How about you? How are you holding up?" I asked, changing the subject.

"Nothing much, to be honest." He shrugged. "I've got everything I wanted for now."

"That's good."

"What about you?"

"Same as you. Lots of stuff I gotta get done and lots of things I need to level, but yeah, no problems for now."

"That's good to hear. It's important for us clearers to keep tabs on each other. Everyone's counting on us."

"Right." I replied.

After a couple more minutes, the door opened and out came three players wearing the DDA uniform. Their equipment was brimming with rare items.

As they walked near me, I looked at them briefly and went back on minding my own business. After a few moments, another player emerged from inside the room.

"Asuna-san." I greeted the sub-commander.

"Riwet-kun." She returned the greeting. "Come in. You too, Ichi."

We both stood up and entered the room. The room's pretty empty, save for two nearby chairs and a desk on the far side of the room. One of the chairs was placed in the center of the room, while one was on the side. Behind the desk was three more chairs, two of them occupied.

On the left chair was Heathcliff with a neutral expression on his face.

On the right sat Wilhelm with an equally professional look on his face, but the tense atmosphere emanating from him was alleviated as he flashed a friendly smile at me as soon as we made eye contact.

Asuna went to them and sat on the middle chair. "Take a seat, please. Ichi, the chair on the side is yours."

"Yes, ma'am." He replied to Asuna as I silently walked to the chair and sat.

"Riwet The Cobalt." Heathcliff smiled slightly. "I believe that this is our first time talking to each other outside of boss raids."

"Yes, that is correct, Heathcliff-san." I replied.

"Hmm." He nodded. "We apologize for the delay. We didn't expect the Holy Dragon Alliance to abruptly meet up with us."

I slightly raised both my hands. "Oh, it's nothing to apologize for, Heathcliff-san. The wait wasn't really that long and I got some stuff sorted out while I waited." I assured him. "Speaking of meeting up, what do you need from me?" I asked politely.

Heathcliff nodded. "Asuna-kun will fill you in on the details." He replied as he nodded to Asuna.

"Do you remember the forest on the 28th Floor? The one with the treants?" Asuna asked.

"I do. I also heard that there was nothing else there."

"Well, we found something." Asuna replied, opening her Player Menu and showing the Map to me. Let's see…most of them look the same…wait.

"…A dungeon?" I frowned. "How in the world did we miss that?"

"We didn't. Unless the whole clearing guild got sloppy, which is very unlikely, we would've definitely caught it." Her eyes narrowed as she explained further. "I've been consulting our Commander and the others about it, and we think that the best explanation for this is that this dungeon opened up after clearing the 29th Floor."

I was a bit surprised. "Really? It's the first time I've ever heard of something like that happening."

"Either it must be a new phenomenon, or it happened in earlier floors but we were too busy with the Power Play to notice." She mused.

"Hmm." I grunted in agreement. "So, I assume that that dungeon's related to why I'm here?" I asked.

The sub-commander nodded. "We want you to cooperate with the KoB in exploring this cave, as soon as you are ready for an excursion."

I tilted my head. "…why an outsider like me?" I asked.

"Currently, KoB is focusing their efforts on both clearing the floors and training new members. We have four people that are able to scout the dungeon, but we couldn't spare any more players. Our Commander suggested that we contact you first." She answered. I looked at Heathcliff for a moment, then quickly returned my attention back to Asuna. "Of course, you will be compensated. You will get a portion of whatever resources you find there. What do you say?" She asked.

"…Alright." I slowly replied. Well, the offer sounded pretty reasonable, but I feel that they're hiding some details from me. Well, it's probably a need to know basis. They're KoB, the most respected and most powerful clearing guild, so it's extremely unlikely that they'd stab me in the back.

Asuna was about to continue, but Heathcliff slowly held his hand out towards Asuna. "Asuna-kun, may I take a moment?" He requested. As Asuna complied, he turned his attention to me. "Riwet-kun?"

"Yes, sir?"

"It doesn't take much to know that you're hesitant. If you have any concerns, please do not hesitate to tell us." He insisted.

Alright. If you insist. "Will all due respect, I feel that your reasons are a bit...off." I said slowly. If I were the KoB Leader, I'd keep this to myself and my guild for a little while to see what we can get from it. Even though we're having shortages in manpower, we can still wait for someone to free up their schedule and join in.

"Yes, they are." He replied bluntly and abruptly, catching me off guard. I could see that the others were also caught off guard. "It's a simple method of catching two birds with one stone." He said as he gazed at me. "Technically, we can just wait for a few more members to have a free schedule, but time is not a luxury we do not have. We want to explore the dungeon as soon as possible, but we should have at least a five-player party. And that's where you come in."

He leaned forward, his gaze intense, but not overbearing. "You asked earlier why an outside like you. Well, you don't have to be an outsider." He pointed out. As I digested what he just implied, his gaze softened slightly but remained fixed on me. "You have the skills and nerves to fight at the front lines as a solo player, and yet, you also have ample teamwork skills, as everyone in here could attest. You have also made numerous contributions to both KoB and the clearing group as a whole, and your relationship with us has remained consistently good."

Finally, he broke eye contact, closing his eyes and leaning back in his chair. "Of course, you don't have to accept right now, and you can still join us to explore the dungeon and go on your own way. However, I only request you to consider my invitation." He concluded.

I frowned, thinking about what I should say. Now, there's even less of a reason why I should doubt them. While my feelings about fighting solo haven't changed quite yet, this is a chance to work for _the_ top clearing guild. I've seen and heard nothing but good things about KoB, with the only criticism is that Heathcliff doesn't seem to be that much involved in the guild. Regardless, his hands-off approach is probably him letting the other members improve. After all, when it comes to planning for boss fights, he's all up in it. I have almost no reason to refuse.

Well, almost. "I'll help in exploring the dungeon." I spoke evenly. "As for your invitation, I'll need some time to consider." I'll need to think hard about this. First and foremost, I've promised myself to join Fuurinkazan should the time come that I ever want to join a clearing guild.

Also, now that I've talked to him face to face, my impression of him broadened. Sure, he seemed pretty sincere, but I still felt hesitant. it was probably just me being excessively paranoid. This ain't the Army that we're talking about. Man, I should really learn when to trust people. It makes me feel like an indecisive brat.

Heathcliff smiled slightly. "Of course. Take the time you need." He said. Yep, calling it right now. Not having the common sense to trust this guy right now's gonna weigh on my conscience. He turned his attention briefly to Asuna. "Asuna-kun, please continue."

Asuna nodded at her leader before facing me. "We'll start tomorrow afternoon, as the others need to sort out other duties. Will that work?"

I nodded. "Yes. That'll work."

"Alright. The six of you meet up here. Should anything change on your end, feel free to message us."

I nodded again. "Sounds good. Is there anything else?"

Asuna glanced at Heathcliff. When he shook his head, she turned to look at Wilhelm. He nodded and looked at me. "The guys are actually planning to resupply a couple minutes after this meeting. You wanna join us?" He offered.

"Sure." I agreed.

"Awesome. That's all from me." He said.

"And that concludes our meeting." Asuna announced as Heathcliff, Wilhelm, and Ichi stood up. Heathcliff exited the room silently while Ichi went with Wilhelm as the latter called for him. I stood up from my chair and walked towards her as she was busy writing something. "What is it?" She asked.

"Nothing much. Just saying hello." I replied. We're still fighting on the front lines, but ever since she joined KoB I very rarely get the chance to make some small talk with her.

"I'm doing fine, thank you for asking." She replied, smiling ever so slightly. That's good for her. "How about you?"

"Same old, same old." I answered. "You should team up with us more often. Kirito misses you." I said absently.

"Wh-what?" She looked towards me, flustered. "D-did he actually say that?"

I tilted my head. Why did she react that way? Did Kirito piss her off or something? "Sorry. He didn't actually say it, but he probably would." I added sheepishly.

"Hmph." She looked at her notes. "Well, I need to complete this. The four KoB members who are joining you should be ready now."

"Alright. Stay safe." I nodded at her.

"You too." She nodded back and proceeded to get back into what she was doing as I turned around and exited the room.

As I neared the entrance, four people were standing nearby. Two of them familiar.

"Hey, Riwet! Over here!" Wilhelm called me over.

"Wilhelm-san? Ichi? You two are joining for the dungeon?" I asked.

Both of them nodded. "Come on, I'll introduce you." Wilhelm walked closer to me and turned around to address the other three. "This is Riwet. I'm sure you've heard of him. He'll be joining us to explore the dungeon tomorrow."

"Riwet." Ichi said.

"Ichi." I replied.'

A player stood forward and grinned. He was wearing light armor over his uniform, with a rapier on his waist. "Name's Flynn. Nice to meet you." He said jovially. "Let's search every nook and cranny of this dungeon, aight?"

I grinned silently. I've heard of this player before. A speedy player with a knack at finding hidden treasures and traps. Apparently the HDA once tried to recruit him, but he refused. It shows why, because he still had plenty of dignity and fair play left in him.

As he walked back, another player walked up nervously. She was wearing typical medium armor alongside her uniform and had the tried and tested sword and shield combo. "H-hello. My name is Nairi. Pleased to meet you." She bowed.

I bowed back. I haven't really heard of her, and judging from her nervous gestures, I would have pegged her as inexperienced, but I knew better. Well, she might be, but she's good enough to be accepted by KoB so that's that. Or maybe she's just not comfortable talking to outsiders like me.

"Right. Let's go!" Wilhelm said as he opened the gates.

 _ *****  
Chapter End  
*****_

 **A/N:** Good news! Unless something comes up, updates will remain more or less the same.

That's all for now. Thank you very much, and have a good one.


	12. CH 12 - Scuffle

Chapter 12 – Scuffle

 _June 22, 2023  
11_ _th_ _Floor_

"Then, I'll be off for now." Keita waved his hand before turning his attention to Taft's Teleport Gate. "Teleport: Town of Beginnings." He incanted evenly. With a flash of light, he was gone.

"I didn't know that buying your own home would be so exciting." Sasamaru remarked.

"Heh. You sound like an old man!" Ducker chuckled as he nudged Sasamaru on the side.

Kirito smiled, a tinge of pride burning inside him. _They've come a long way._ He thought. They've reached their very first major milestone – obtaining enough money to buy a proper base. Before, they've just been renting an inn in Taft as their temporary base. Keita's going to start looking for a base on the 1st Floor Starting City.

For Kirito, 20,000 Col was nothing. He only needed to spend a short amount of time farming the high-level Labyrinths and he would have much more than that. However, that 20,000 Col was the result of all their combined effort. Yes, it was inefficient, but they poured their hearts and souls into it, and everybody grew because of the experience. Even a beater like him learned a thing or two.

Tetsuo spoke up. "Hey, let's go make some cash while Keita's buying the house."

Sachi clapped her hands together. "Oh, are we going to buy some furniture?" She said excitedly.

"Oh! Oh! I know a place where we can buy a lot of good furniture!" Sefton chimed in.

Ducker put his hand to his hip. "Then, should we try to go up to higher-level dungeons?" He suggested.

Kirito frowned slightly. "Wouldn't our usual areas be better?" He asked, though he already knew the reason.

"We can do it faster above." Sasamaru replied.

"At our levels, we'll be fine." Ducker added.

In a way, they were correct, but Kirito would've recommended that they stay on their usual floors to avoid any surprises, especially since Keita wasn't with them. He saw that Ducker, Sasamaru, and Tetsuo were all in on this plan. Sefton silently nodded, as he usually agreed with whatever plans the guild thought up. Sachi looked slightly reluctant, but she stayed silent.

"…alright." Kirito finally agreed.

On paper, the Cats' average levels, excluding him, were right on the recommended levels for the front lines. Even though the standard protocol is to be at least 10 levels above the recommended level, it was not like they were going to the front lines, just somewhere near there. Even more so, they could just use their Crystals to Teleport to safety.

Whatever surprises there were, he'll do his damnedest to handle it. That's what he was here for.

 _ *****  
Loading…Complete  
Changing Perspective: Riwet  
*****_

 _28_ _th_ _Floor_

"Well, that's one way to welcome us." Wilhelm smirked.

Only a few minutes in, and we were greeted by a group of monsters – five Kobold Renegades. The Renegades were like the Ruin Kobold Sentinels, but they traded plate armor and pole weapons with cloth armor and twin daggers. They already spotted us, so sneaking by wasn't an option.

"Let's stay calm and work as a team." Ichi chimed in as we readied our weapons and took formation, with Wilhelm and I at the front and the other three further back. I took a quick look at the surroundings. The part of the dungeon that we found ourselves in didn't have any obstructions, just an empty area.

"Right." I replied as I held my glaive with my left hand.

"Ready when you are." Flynn said.

"Here they come!" Nairi exclaimed.

The Renegades rushed towards us. four on Wilhelm and two on me.

I tensed myself and dodged their attack. They're pretty quick, but I can handle them. As soon as I evaded a stab, I kicked it on its sides. It was a normal right kick but I've leveled up my Martial Arts level enough that the Renegade staggered.

"Heh!" Wilhelm grinned as he weathered the blows. "My turn!" He shouted as his shield glowed, signaling a Weapon skill. He then swung his shield horizontally, activating Shield Bash and staggering all three of the attackers.

To my right, I saw the other one rearing up for a big swing. I quickly used my right hand used a Martial Arts skill to punch it in the face, leaving it staggered.

"Now!" The two of us shouted at the same time.

Ichi rushed in to back me up, utterly dismantling one of the Renegades with his Partizan. He waited for the monster to attack, then he quickly countered with a 3-hit Weapon Skill. While Ichi was busy with the Renegade, I finished off the other one with a Deadly Rhapsody.

Thanks to having companions, I was safe enough that I could dish out high-damage Skills and try out new things, namely using my offhand offensively to have a more versatile playstyle. While I can't wrap my head around using my Knife on my right hand efficiently, I've been making more progress using Martial Arts, but the most I could do is use basic attacks and low to mid-level Skills. I'm looking forward to the day I can effectively use it in tandem with either my main weapon or my knife.

Flynn sprinted forward, activating a 3-hit Weapon Skill, Triangular. A straightforward upgrade to the Linear Weapon Skill, it is both powerful and quick. The Skill wasn't quite powerful enough to finish the job, but Flynn just simply evaded the attacks and hit it with another one. He's quick, but not as quick as Asuna. Though, that was to be expected as Asuna was leagues above any other Rapier users that I've seen.

Nairi was up next, her Steel Longsword and medium-sized Knight shield at the ready. She took her time in killing the Renegade with a combination of 1 and 2-hit Weapon Skills and accurate blocking. While she was a tiny bit too cautious, she was patient, efficient, and effective with her balanced playstyle. I could see why KoB wanted her.

Last but not the least, Wilhelm. Taking advantage of the fact that the last Renegade's attention was away from him, he let loose a 1-hit Weapon skill with his Warhammer, flattening it to the ground with an overhead strike.

We dusted ourselves off and prepared to continue, but we realized that teleport crystals were disabled. Ichi sent a message to Asuna, and she replied that we should continue to explore, but do so slowly and safely and stick to the plan to return in a couple of hours.

Ichi opened his Player Menu. "The map data's completely black. Let's keep an eye out for hidden stuff."

"That won't be too hard." Flynn grinned. We slowly and cautiously explored the dungeon, stopping periodically when Flynn noticed something a bit unusual.

However, when we went deeper into the dungeon, _everything_ was pretty damn unusual.

"Anyone else's head hurt?" Wilhelm said while pressing his thumb and finger on the bridge of his nose.

"Ngh…" Nairi grunted as she looked down while cradling her head with one of her hands.

I wouldn't blame them. On the earlier parts of the dungeon, it was pretty typical. But as we moved forward, it was like being in a fever dream. While there were no obvious light sources, the whole dungeon was brightly lit, with a light shade of….pink? The walls were also made out of these very reflective materials, and there were also smooth crysltal-like protrusions that reflect and distort. The dungeon created a sort of optical illusion that messed up our sense of distance.

"If it's going to be a major issue, then should we head back?" Ichi suggested.

"I can handle it." Nairi replied, taking deep breaths.

"Same for me. Also, we have our orders. We can't just abandon them just because we got a little bit dizzy." Wilhelm added.

We continued on slowly and cautiously, periodically stopping when Wilhelm and Nairi needed to reorient themselves and when Flynn saw something.

"Aha!" Flynn exclaimed as he discovered a hidden treasure chest. "There's a lot more where those came from." Pretty remarkable that he was able to find it despite the confusing geometry.

Thankfully, the monsters were a bit weak compared to monsters normally found at the 28th floor, so we were able to kill them efficiently.

"Nice work, nice work!" Ichi was doing an awesome job with leading us, employing a safe and gradual strategy that still effectively dealt with the monsters. After some time, Wilhelm and Nairi were able to acclimate themselves. Now at full force, we continued on, searching every nook and cranny and completing the dungeon's map data.

After doing that, we rested at a safe zone we found.

"Whew." Nairi and Wilhelm audibly sighed as they sat down and relaxed. The safe zone was barren, but it lacked the dizzying design of the rest of the dungeon and was just a simple room with a small glowing rock at the center of it. It provided us with a calming atmosphere.

Ichi opened his Player Menu and looked at the map. "I guess we completed the dungeon."

"No. We just completed all the normal paths." Flynn replied. "I get the feeling that this area still has a couple of secrets tucked in a corner somewhere."

"Well, good luck." Wilhelm grunted. "I'll move on and help clear some other place that won't make me throw up." He turned to look at Nairi. "Right?"

"Mn." The player in question nodded and checked her Player Menu. "It's almost time to report back to KoB."

"Hmm…we still have a bit more time. Let's catch a breather before we worry about that." Wilhelm replied.

I silently watched the four of them banter. While they were part of a large guild, I could see that their personalities and playstyles go well together.

"Anything you wanna add, Riwet?" I heard Wilhelm talk to me, catching me off guard.

"Huh? Hmm…" I hummed. "Yeah. There's undoubtedly some more loot hidden, but it's only a matter of time until other guilds catch wind of this dungeon." Treasure chests respawn periodically, but not consistently, and the chest yields the best loot when first opened. " KoB's gonna need to pull more people out of the front lines and really scour this place if the higher-ups decide that the loot's worth it." I concluded.

"Speaking of loot, let's take a look at what we got." Flynn suggested.

We all opened our respective Menus. "This…this is actually really good!" He exclaimed excitedly. Aside from the plentiful Col, we got lots of weapons and armor with stats comparable to what we're getting on the 30th floor. In fact, a lot of them were even better.

"Sweet!" Flynn whistled. "Can't we just stay look for a bit more time?" He pleaded.

"Sure. Explain it to our Sub-Commander first." Ichi offered.

The treasure hunter shivered slightly. "Fine...let's not." He relented. I assume that he once got in trouble for circumventing orders to get some more treasure. He probably won't try to push his luck for some time if that's the case. Knowing Asuna, I know I wouldn't.

"I'll send a message to Asuna-san and give her a status update – we completed documenting all non-hidden parts of the dungeon and found treasure. We'll be returning to base shortly." She said as she started typing.

I checked the time. Sunset. After a few more minutes, we stood up and headed out of the safe zone. The exit's a bit of a ways away, but we were still on schedule and had no need to rush.

When we were halfway there, I felt that things were a bit off. "I got a bit of a bad feeling." I heard Wilhlem say." Nairi nodded. Turns out, I'm not the only one.

"Regardless, let's get out of here. We don't want to be late." Ichi added.

As we walked to the exit, we noticed a couple of things. Some of the smooth stones turned red, making the ambient light even more tinted. Also, did the crystals multiply? Could've sworn that there were less back when we first came through here.

However, when we walked further, we felt a violent rumbling.

"What!?" Wilhelm exclaimed, bracing himself to avoid losing his footing.

My passive Scanning skill alerted me of enemies. "We've got monsters incoming!"

"What? Where?" Ichi replied as we all activated our Scanning skills. "Oh…" was all he said as we got our answer.

The answer? Everywhere.

"It's those damn rocks! They're monsters!" Flynn shouted. We all readied our weapons. True enough, some of the rocks shifted and moved towards us.

The rocks assumed a humanoid shape now that they're lumbering towards us. They were called Ruby Golems and were a new golem-type enemy made out of transparent red rock. They were big, towering over us. Fortunately, it looked like they were slow-moving.

"Renegades!" Ichi said as he anxiously pointed some distance away. It was bad enough that they were here, but the Renegades looked like they were matching the Golems' pace. I swore under my breath. We can pretty much handle either type, but both of them at the same time could be very problematic, especially since we were being attacked from both sides.

"Look alive!" Wilhelm roared, psyching himself up for the coming onslaught.

"I can do this…I can do this…" Nairi muttered, clutching her shield close to her.

The Renegades lunged at us, twin daggers poised to stab. The Golems weren't far behind.

 _ *****  
Cue Music: Hyper Light Drifter OST – The Sentients  
*****_

I wasted no time in decisively attacking a nearby Renegade with a Deadly Rhapsody. While I traded a couple of hits for it, I was able to push it back and deal large amounts of damage to it as I caught the bastard in a counter. The damage dealt to me was negligible thanks to my armor and Battle Healing.

The others also had no problem in pushing back the horde, but we couldn't risk following up for a full kill. And now, the Ruby Golems have caught up.

Wilhelm grit his teeth as he prepared to block a punch from one of them. The Golem raised its crystalline arm slowly, but the attack went fast. Like, really fast. "Gh!" Even though the attack slipped on his shield, our sturdiest tank was lifted from his feet, and he would have been completely knocked on his back had he not made a supreme effort to reorient himself.

"Wilhelm-san!" Nairi shouted.

"Let's back him up!" Ichi ordered. Flynn reached Wilhelm first, successfully intercepting and repelling a Renegade that was making a beeline for the stunned player.

"Are you alright?" I asked while holding out my hand.

Wilhelm nodded as he took my hand and I helped him stand up. "We need to dodge them. They hit too hard." He panted.

I grit my teeth. Long and predictable wind up but very devastating attacks that could demolish a frontline tank. I'd expect something like this from a boss, but a normal mob?

"I have an idea." Ichi spoke up. "We'll deal with the Renegades first, but when a Golem comes too close then we combine our attacks and destroy it as soon as possible."

We didn't have time to argue, and it seemed like a good idea, so we just nodded and went with it. Wilhelm and Nairi blocked and staggered the Renegades, and the rest of us finished them off.

"Here it comes!" I shouted when a Golem got too close and was winding up for an attack. We quickly moved out of the way, and the lumbering monster hit the ground instead. We unleashed our Weapon Skills and destroyed it. Thankfully, it had a long post-motion delay and a relatively low HP to balance its insane power.

"Good stuff! Let's keep up the pattern!" Ichi rallied us to keep the morale and momentum going.

Slowly, but surely, we thinned the horde. As we kept up with the pattern, we also started inching our way back to the exit. Though we would be hit by an attack here and there, they were mostly glancing blows that dealt little damage. However, I could see that the KoB members were getting increasingly exhausted. The walls also reflected the Ruby golems, making it even more disorienting. I could go on for quite a bit more, but I was also feeling a bit tired.

But in a critical moment, we were tired enough to make a critical mistake.

"Aah!" Flynn was forced to his knees by an attack from a Renegade.

"I'm coming!" Wilhelm roared, running towards him.

"Flynn-san!" Nairi yelled. Our hands were full in dealing with the other monsters, so the best we could do is to slowly retreat while being careful as to not be stabbed and smashed.

"Get back! _Get back!_ " Flynn shouted frantically as he swung about his rapier to defend himself from a couple of the knife-wielders that were ganging up on his stunned body. While Wilhelm was running as fast as he could, his bulky armor and weapons slowed him down.

By the time Wilhelm reached our team member in distress, Flynn only had a quarter of his HP left. The ironclad tank was able to shake the monsters off of Flynn. "Flynn! Fall back and heal!"

"Haah…haah…" Flynn was panting heavily as looked on in stunned silence. If Wilhelm was even a couple of seconds too late, he would've died.

Ichi, Nairi and I desperately ran towards the two, but we were cut off by a trio of Renegades. We threw safety out of the window and we unleashed our strongest Weapons Skills in an attempt to kill them.

"Aargh! Flynn! Heal! HEAL NOW, DAMMIT!" Wilhelm shouted as he blocked the blows from the kobolds. That caught Flynn's attention, as the player shakily took out a Healing Crystal.

Stuck in post-motion delay, the three of us widened our eyes when we noticed that a Ruby Golem was in range to attack the two. We rushed towards them as soon as the delay wore off.

As we ran, I drew out a Throwing Knife and aimed at the Golem, hoping that my attack would at least stagger it to buy my teammates precious time. However, as I was about to throw it, I felt a searing pain emanating from my lower back. I lost my balance and my aim, causing my Skill to miss. As I fell, I turned to see what hit me. There was a knife lodged at my back. One of Renegades had the same idea as me but was much more successful. A couple of them were coming close.

Ichi and Nairi paused to look at what happened to me. "GO! I'LL BE FINE!" I shouted at them. They nodded and continued running. I stood up, pulled the knife out and threw it back at the Renegades before I started running again.

The two of them caught up with Wilhelm and Flynn. Ichi went to Flynn and tried to help him up off the floor. Nairi stood beside Wilhelm and the two braced themselves to block the Golem, but both looked pretty tired. I grimaced as I was still too far to help.

When I was just a couple of steps away, the Golem let loose. I was knocked back by the sheer force of the blow. Reorienting myself, I sat up.

And froze at what I saw.

Wilhelm was knocked to the side. While he still had lots of HP left, he wasn't moving. It looked like he lost consciousness.

Nairi fared worse. She was knocked to the other side, her HP down to a quarter. While she stayed conscious, her shield was destroyed. Along with her hand that was holding it.

Ichi also fell, but he lost only a little bit of HP. Despite that, he laid there, stunned, as he stared blankly at Flynn, or at least, where Flynn was supposed to be.

Because there was no sign of him amidst the smoking crater.

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End Music  
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Changing Perspective: Third Person  
*****_

 _27_ _th_ _Floor_

"See? I told you that we'd have no problem." Sasamaru chuckled. Kirito was inclined to agree. Even though they were only 3 floors below the front line, the way they handled themselves were on point. The tinge of pride he felt earlier today grew larger, and he felt that he would be welcoming the Moonlit Black Cats to the front lines earlier than he thought.

"Ooh, what's this?" Ducker said, gazing intently at a wall. The self-proclaimed treasure hunter squinted his eyes to concentrate, and then his smile widened. "Would you look at what we have here." He said as he touched the wall. As soon as he made contact, the wall lit up with neon lines being drawn through it as it raised up to reveal a hidden room. "Oh yeah!"

"Nice work, you beautiful bastard!" Tetsuo grinned.

Even Kirito was surprised. There was a hidden area there? How did he miss that? He's been in this particular dungeon a handful of times, and it was his first time seeing that. In fact, he checked his Player Menu and found that he himself had no map data of this, even though he routinely updates his map data with what the frontlines had, meaning that _all_ the clearers missed this area.

"Hey, look! There's a treasure chest!" Ducker exclaimed as he pointed at the center of the room. Him, Tetsuo, Sasamaru, and Sefton rushed to the chest.

It only took a couple of moments for Kirito to realize that something was off. "Hey, wait!" He shouted.

While Sefton was genuinely interested as to what exciting loot was waiting to be found in that treasure chest, the vanguard slowed down and turned around to face his friend.

As for the others, well…they didn't get the warning soon enough. The trio's attention was solely on the chest.

The chest which Ducker had just opened.

The whole room's lighting turned blood-red, and an alarm blared for a few seconds. Then, the wall they went through quickly closed, and the walls opened upwards to reveal hidden spaces.

Hidden spaces that were filled with enemy monsters. Said monsters were now populating the room.

"Everybody, group up!" Kirito said as the Cats grouped up. Kirito, Sefton, and Tetsuo formed a defensive circle while Sachi, Ducker, and Sasamaru stayed inside it. However, they were completely surrounded and stuck in such a confined space that the monsters wouldn't have to walk far to be in range for a strike against the DPS.

"S-sorry, guys. I-I screwed up. I-I…" Ducker stammered feverishly.

"Please don't panic! Let's worry about that stuff after we get out of here!" Sefton replied.

Now that the enemies were right in front of them, Kirito looked at what they up against, and he promptly grit his teeth hard. Dark Dwarf Miners and Mineral Elementals. Kirito had ample experience in fighting these two types of monsters to know that the coming fight would be grueling.

While the short but sturdy Miners were not terribly hard to deal with, each Miner would summon up to three of these tall, thin rock-type mobs called Granite Elementals and hide behind them until they saw an opening. Armed with pickaxes, the Miners would aggressively gang up on players with short-range and slow but utterly devastating attacks while the Elementals backed them up. The most optimal way of defeating them would be to attack the Elementals and then kill the Miners before they could summon more.

The clearers only encountered them at the Labyrinth, so why in the world were they here? Was it to introduce the enemy type before they would appear en masse at the Labyrinths? How ironic.

In any case, the Cats didn't have any experience battling this type of enemy and considering that they were surrounded in such a cramped space, now is not the time to start.

Retreat was the best option.

"We can't fight them here. Let's Teleport out!" Kirito commanded.

Ducker drew out a Teleport Crystal and raised it upwards. "Teleport: Taft!" Nothing happened. "TELEPORT: TAFT!" he tried again, receiving the same result.

"We can't use our crystals!" Sachi exclaimed frantically.

An anti-crystal area. They didn't need this. Things were already bad enough. They would've had time to prepare had they known beforehand that it was an anti-crystal area, but they were able to use crystals anywhere else in the dungeon.

"Aah!" Tetsuo screamed in pain as he weathered a barrage of attacks, his HP dangerously low.

"Tetsuo!" Sasamaru yelled, activating a Weapon Skill to force a Granite Elemental off of the injured tank. To his horror, the monster didn't even flinch as it wound up for an attack.

"SASAMARU!" Kirito shouted. This caught the spearman's attention, and he drew his spear back and held it in front of him to block the attack. Contact was made, and even though his spear snapped in two, he got away with his life.

At this point, their formation was completely broken, overwhelmed by the sheer number of enemies.

"Aargh!" Ducker was knocked down as a Miner attacked him from behind. As he looked up and tried to stand, he was horrified to see that three Miners held their pickaxes high, mere moments away from pummeling him to death.

Fortunately, Tetsuo and Sasamaru were there to help. The tank had replenished a large chunk of his lost HP with a potion and bashed some of the Miners away from Ducker as the disarmed spearman quickly helped Ducker up and produced a spare spear from his inventory. The three of them regrouped and made their way towards Sachi and Sefton, who were separated from the group.

The vanguard and the spearwoman were having serious trouble. There was not enough space to dodge, and all they could do was block. Both of them were losing HP at an alarming rate.

Roaring wildly, Kirito lashed out in a desperate attempt to reach the two, throwing self-preservation aside as he swung wildly at the monsters in his way. He knew that a player with the same level as the Cats wouldn't be able to deal and receive the same amount of damage as him, but he didn't care about hiding his status anymore.

As he neared the two, he frantically reached his hand out. "Sachi!"

"Kirito-kun!" Sachi shouted back as she frantically blocked an attack shoved a monster aside.

Kirito immediately regretted catching Sachi's attention, as he noticed a Granite Elemental behind her about to attack.

It was as if time moved in slow motion. Kirito tried to warn her as he ran, but no sound came out from his mouth. Even though he himself was getting battered by monsters, he sprinted to her. But he knew that he was too late. He was too far to do anything.

"Sachi-san! Look out!"

Fortunately, someone else was.

Sefton roared as he blocked the attack. The block was successful, but his HP was almost at the redzone.

Kirito caught up with the two. Thank goodness that the both of them were alright. His elation turned into rage. He was angry at the group of monsters who dared hurt them, and he was angry at himself in that his friends had to be facing mortal danger for him to shed his masquerade. He channeled this rage and let loose a high-level Weapon Skill that swept the area around him, slicing the enemies apart with righteous indignation.

"Amazing…" Sefton muttered.

The six of them regrouped, but they were back at square one. Kirito ignored the enemies for a split second to scan the area, trying to find anything that can help, whether be it an alternate exit or a relatively safe spot. His eyes widened at what he found.

The black-clothed swordsman called his team's attention. "It's the chest! The chest itself is the trap!"

"What?!" Ducker asked, confused.

"We have to destroy the chest! I don't know what's gonna happen, but unless we can deal with infinitely spawning mobs, we have to make a move!" Kirito explained feverishly.

The five agreed, and they made their way to where the chest was. The enemies were relentless, but they were slowly gaining progress, and their hopes flared. They're going to get out of this alive, buy some damn furniture, and rest at their newly-bought headquarters.

However, before all of them were in range, Ducker sprinted forward and started hacking at the chest, receiving alarming amounts of damage on the way.

"DUCKER!" Kirito yelled, failing to grab his attention. Exhaustion, desperation and pure adrenaline took hold of the thief's mind as he viciously attacked the chest, unaware that a Dwarf Miner and Granite Elemental was quickly approaching. Kirito kicked off to back Ducker up, with the rest of the guild following close by.

Just as the two monsters were about to attack, Kirito was fast enough to go between Ducker and the monsters. He unleashed a Weapon Skill on the Elemental – Vertical Square, a 4-hit weapon skill that traced the shape of a square. The Elementals arms, legs, and head were sliced from its torso before it disintegrated.

That took care of the Elemental, but he still had to deal with the Dwarf Miner. He was just done with activating a Weapon Skill, so he was stuck post-motion. However, he has leveled up enough that he had a decently robust HP even though he didn't prioritize defense, so he should be able to tank this hit, even if it meant losing a good chunk of his HP.

The Miner swung and the swordsman grit his teeth. The odds were in his favor.

As the pickaxe pierced through his right side, he realized that he was right.

In the worst possible way.

At that exact moment, Ducker was able to destroy the treasure chest. The beeping stopped and the room's lights turned normal once again. The monsters started to despawn.

Genuine elation coursed through his body, and he finally calmed down. "Guys! I di—" He started to say as he turned around to face his teammates.

He never got finish his statement.

Because when Kirito was hit, he was knocked back towards Ducker.

The part of the pickaxe that pierced through Kirito impaled Ducker between the eyes.

The thief was too distracted to heal beforehand, and what little HP he had left was depleted.

Ducker disintegrated without being able to say anything more.

And as if to twist the knife even further, the Miner, as well as the pickaxe that was lodged into Kirito, despawned immediately afterward, a mere fraction of a second _after it had done the damage_.

The next few moments were spent in silence. All of them were shocked, staring blankly at the empty space. Sachi didn't even notice that she dropped her spear as her knees gave out and her whole body started to tremble.

Kirito absently stood there, detached as his brain almost shut down in trying and failing to deny what just happened. Fortunately, or unfortunately, he saw, for a split second, the look on Ducker's face as he died.

He snapped back to consciousness as he received a message, stating that they found some rare items. A wave of nausea assaulted him, and he weakly covered his mouth.

The sensation overpowered him, and he was forced to his knees as he heaved dryly in front of his teammates.

He took little to no solace from the fact that SAO didn't emulate human vomit.

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*****_

 _28_ _th_ _Floor_

How long has it been since I saw the surface? Half a day? A couple of hours? I don't know. I was too busy swinging to check the time.

"Haah…haah" Ichi stood close to me, panting heavily.

"Wilhelm-san, get a hold of yourself, please!" Nairi pleaded, equally as exasperated as Ichi as she lent her remaining shoulder to support a disoriented Wilhelm.

We were in dire straights. All my teammates were on their last legs, and I wasn't far off, either. Worse, one was barely conscious and the other was missing an arm. My addiction and experience with fighting for days on end didn't prepare me for this.

We spent what felt like _hours_ slowly working our way towards the exit and trying to fend off the horde of monsters, all while dragging Wilhelm with us. Nobody had the convenience to even check the map for more than a split second. All we knew was that we were going the right direction, and that's it. No way to tell how far we are.

I pushed my body to its limits, letting out Weapon Skill after Weapon Skill and dashing out of the way to avoid retaliation while ichi also aggressively fended off the monsters. The two of us were actively causing a ruckus to take aggro off the rest of the party.

But either I was getting more and more deluded, or things were getting better. While our efforts were exhausting, we were slowly gaining progress. Also, the monsters' numbers were thinning.

After a few more minutes, Nairi spoke up excitedly. "I recognize this part! We're nearing the entrance!" I could hear the hope in her tone. I took a split second to quickly scan the surroundings. She was not wrong. The smooth, reflective walls were replaced by normal rock, meaning that we were relatively close to the entrance. And If I looked far away, I swear that I could see the dungeon entrance.

"Alright! Let's push on and get ou-" Ichi had to cut his sentence short as he barely dodged a Kobold Renegade's knife.

I backed him up and forced the Renegade off him.

It wasn't enough to keep him off of danger, as we were hit by the Ruby Golems.

The punch was strong enough that it slammed me into the wall. After picking myself up, my eyes widened.

Ichi was gone. Another one of us dead.

"Ichi-san!" Nairi screamed tearfully.

I just laid there, unable to move. The monsters were trained towards the two wounded players, but one particular Golem stood in front of me, rearing for an attack.

"Riw…sa…! Ple…ge...up!" I could hear Nairi shouting from far away. I turned my head to look at her. She's right over there, so why did she sound so far away? Also, was there something in my eyes? My vision was blurring.

That being said, the next thing I knew, I was standing between the two surviving KoB members and the horde of monsters. I absently looked at where I was supposed to be. Obviously, I wasn't there, but the Ruby Elemental was missing an arm. Huh. Did I do that?

"Let's move." I heard myself say as I thoughtlessly used a potion.

"O-okay." Nairi stammered as she anxiously hauled Wilhelm with her.

I continued to protect them. There's still a lot of enemies and my job just got harder. And yet, I didn't really feel tired. To be honest, I didn't feel anything at all. It was like my body was on autopilot as I instinctively moved, dodged, and attacked. I _did_ hit my head pretty hard against the pavement.

However, as I sliced, cleaved, and mauled our way, I began to regain my sense of control. It became stronger and stronger the more I traded blows with the enemies.

I took a direct attack from a Ruby Elemental. That was enough to fully knock me back to my senses. But in addition to feeling pain, I felt…happy?

The monsters began converging on us. I gripped my glaive tightly. I didn't have to look at it to know how damaged it was. Same goes for me, as my armor were completely riddled with cracks and dents and my coat was mostly torn apart. My HP was hovering below 50%, and I probably wouldn't have any breathing room to heal, with Battle Healing barely keeping me together.

I don't know when the Body Part Loss status would and Nairi would get her arm back, but as is stands she's too busy dealing with an unconscious Wilhelm and trying not to get themselves killed.

And yet, deep down, as I fought towards the exit, I couldn't shake off the feeling of joy as I felt my blade tear through the monsters.

"Look out!" Nairi screamed.

As soon as I finished dispatching the nearby Renegades, I grit my teeth as I set myself open to a counterattack. Two Golems were about to attack me, and I had little to react.

After fighting at the frontlines for half a year, I am well-acquainted with perilous situations. Hell, I've had my closest brush with death the moment I stepped out of the Starting City. To be fair, aside from that one, most of them were calculated risks and I could just run away should it get any spicier.

This one's different from most times. Nowhere to run. The only way out is through. The two massive attacks were about to hit me. I was bruised and battered, and nowhere near safety. I was tired, angry, and desperate.

So why, why the _hell_ do I feel so _goddamn happy?_

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Chapter End  
*****_

 **A/N:** Well, I planned to release this sooner, but uh…a series of unfortunate events pushed it back. Responsibilities, distractions, messed up my hand and had to go for a checkup, all that good stuff. But the most problematic is, well…honestly, I'm in a bit of a writer's block. I know the very rough premise of the chapter, but I'm having trouble elaborating and effectively portraying the events using words. I'm trying a method in which I just write whatever the hell I think of and then edit it, and it's going pretty well. I'll snap out of it, preferably sooner rather than later.

That's all for now. Thank you very much, and have a good one.


	13. CH 13 - Aftermath

Chapter 13 – Aftermath

 _June 22, 2023  
_ _26th floor_

The Knights of Blood sub-commander leaned back in her chair and sighed. She was just done with sorting various documents and scheduling guild activities. She also just got word from Nairi stating that the exploration on the recently-discovered dungeon was going smoothly.

 _Why am I doing this? Shouldn't the Guild Leader be doing this?_ She fretted silently. Everytime she asked Heathcliff about issues that he, as Guild Leader, needed to address, Heathcliff always replied with a neutral, almost disinterested 'I'll leave it to you'. It was a constant source of annoyance to her, the second-in-command, as she handled guild decisions herself instead of assisting Heathcliff. The only time he actively participated was during boss battle meetings and occasionally scouting potential recruits when players caught his eye.

However, it wasn't all miserable. She receives constant and helpful advice from her veteran guild members, and even though it was her first time commanding an ever-expanding conglomerate, The Knights of Blood enjoyed constant growth.

Her thoughts ran free as she sat there. She thought about the direction of KoB, her own training schedule, how Kirito was doing-

She shook her head. _Why did I think of him?_ she wondered. she had more relevant things to worry about, and the black-clothed swordsman was strong enough to fend for himself.

When she thought about it, she hadn't seen him much recently. Well, it was justified in that he was a solo player and needed a different area to train, but still...

She shook head once again. she just said that she had better things to worry about. Was there something wrong with her? as she thought about it, she recalled one exchange she had yesterday, most likely the culprit.

 _Kirito misses you, you know._

She shook her head. _It's all his fault_. Asuna thought as she felt flustered for some reason.

She opened her Player Menu and looked at her messages. their group was due for a status update. No response. They might be in the middle of combat and unable to send a message. she sent them a short message requesting for an update. In SAO, messages that were sent are put on hold until the receiver was out of combat. It was to prevent mail from distracting players while they were fighting monsters.

The minutes ticked on, and Asuna was getting increasingly agitated.

After half an hour had passed, Asuna sent a message to Heathcliff and informed him of the situation. He replied almost instantly, stating that she should assemble a party and go to the dungeon.

Asuna took a deep breath to calm her nerves, and then she made the appropriate preparations.

She hoped that it was just Flynn fooling around again.

 ** _***  
_** _ **Loading...Complete  
** *******_

 _28th Floor_

"We're nearing the dungeon entrance." Asuna announced. "Tell me if you find a trace of the party." She ordered before activating her on Scanning skill. It had been an hour and a half since Nairi last contacted them. Asuna was only able to contact two other people who were free to go with her. The sun had almost set completely, marring the forest with darkness.

As they were right outside the entrance, they heard the sound of battle. Then, a Ruined Kobold Renegade flew out of the dungeon entrance and disintegrated in mid-air.

After that, two players emerged from the entrance.

Nairi was up first, panting as she lent a shoulder to a dazed Wilhelm. Both had looked worn out and their HP were dangerously low.

"Asuna-san!" She shouted in relief as she saw her Sub-Commander.

The rescue party rushed towards her. One of the party members, Godfree, took Wilhelm away from Nairi's shaking shoulder as Asuna supported the exhausted swordswoman. The two brought out Healing crystals and used them, replenishing Wilhelm and Nairi's HP to full.

Nairi reached her limits as her knees buckled and Asuna had to pull her close prevent her from falling completely.

"It's all right. It's all right now." Asuna calmed her down as she was trembling. "Where are the others?"

Nairi's head snapped towards Asuna and she looked her in the eye. "Riwet-san's still there! We need to help him!" She exclaimed frantically before looking away. "Ichi-san and Flynn-san...they...they didn't make it…" she managed to eke out before she started sobbing.

The three nodded quickly. "We'll take it from here. You and Wilhelm should Teleport to KoB and get some rest."

"No! I can help!" Wilhelm grimaced as he forced himself to stand up. It was bad enough that he fell unconscious and became a very heavy dead weight, but running with his tail behind his legs and letting yet another one of his teammates die? _Absolutely not._

Asuna initially wanted to object, but after she saw the look on Wilhelm's face, she knew better than to waste time arguing. "Alright, but don't push yourself."

"M-me too…" Nairi weakly said as she tried to stand up on her own, but ended up collapsing into Asuna's arms once again.

"Don't be so reckless, Nairi. We'll handle this, alright?" The sub-leader assured her. Nairi was frustrated at her own weakness but resolved to follow Asuna's orders.

"Will you be able to get to safety on your own?" She asked. Nairi nodded and promptly used a Teleport Crytstal.

"Let's go, let's go!" Wilhelm shouted. Together, the four of them dashed through the dungeon.

They didn't have to look far.

"There he is!" They found a lone player surrounded by a diminishing group of Renegades and Ruby Golems. He was covered with damage marks and had knives impaled in different parts of his body.

"Riwet-kun!" "Riwet!" Wilhelm and Asuna called out to the player, but he didn't seem to notice. Despite the damage he had taken, he was still noticeably on the offensive, actively trading blows with the monsters. Has he lost his mind?

The four KoB members rushed towards the player, destroying the monsters in their path. Asuna called out to Riwet as they got closer, still no response.

The KoB sub-leader sighed calmly as she darted sideways to avoid a flurry of attacks. She retaliated by unleashing a string of Linears and Triangulars, but it was too risky to activate her high damage long endlag skills.

Wilhelm dove into the fray with such seething fury the likes of which Asuna had never seen. His recklessness allowed a Kobold Renegade to cling to him from behind. That only made Wilhelm angrier as he threw the monster over his shoulder, slammed it to the ground, and brought down his hammer in a fit of rage. His suicidal rush was risky beyond belief, but it cut a clear path to the blue-clad player.

But as they got close enough to support him, they realized that it was too late.

He was already finishing up.

The last Kobold Renegade stood in front of him. Riwet was forced to block as the monster quickly darted to the side and stabbed at him. He successfully blocked, but his glaive snapped in two from the middle.

He retaliated by knocking it down, mounting it and pummeling its head until it died.

And with that, the scene was quiet, with only Riwet's labored breathing audible amidst the once-cacophonous battlefield.

Asuna slowly approached Riwet with his back to them. "Riwet-kun?" She asked quietly.

"Asuna-san?" he replied as he slowly stood up. "Sorry, how long were you here?" his tone was flat and detached.

"You didn't notice?! We were calling your name!" Wilhelm exclaimed worriedly.

"Sorry...I...I didn't…" He turned to face them and forced a smile. "Mission complete...well...calling this mission anything but a failure is...yeah..."

"Let's get out of here for now." Wilhelm said, trying to change the subject. "We'll sort this out later."

Riwet slowly nodded. "Please. Lead the way." He muttered before looking away.

No more words were said as they exited the dungeon and Teleported to the KoB HQ.

The debriefing was short, but still painful to listen to. Wilhelm was knocked unconscious for a good amount of time and Nairi was too exhausted to even participate, so it was left to Riwet to tell Asuna and Heathcliff everything that happened.

The solo player explained the details, painfully obvious that he was struggling to even barely keep his composure. The debriefing only lasted a couple of minutes, but it felt like hours. Once the debriefing ended, Riwet was left with a blank expression on his face while he silently stared down at the empty space between his feet.

"While I'm not in the position to declare anything, I'll make the suggestion that if we were ever to go back again, we'll have three parties. Scratch that, bring the whole damn guild, all of them armed to the teeth." Wilhelm said tersely. " Better yet, we should move on. That dungeon can go to hell and stay there."

"We'll decide that at a later date." Heathcliff spoke up. "For now, I suggest that everyone have a rest." He suggested.

Riwet sighed as he slowly stood up and silently exited the premises.

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**_ _ **Loading...Complete  
*****_

 _11th Floor_

Taft. Kirito didn't expect that he would end up here. Keita didn't find anything much on the lower floors, so he decided to just buy a bigger house on the 11th Floor. The house was near the city center and had a lovely view outside, perfect for the group.

However, the mood was far from lively. What was supposed to be a celebration was now just spent in silence, sadness, and frustration.

Kirito sat silently on a sofa, listless. The others took a seat near them, silently mourning and trying to pass the time. Keita sat facing him, in quiet disbelief as the black-clothed swordsman had just recounted the events that unfolded.

He told him everything. The discovery of the secret room. The trap that took Ducker's life.

And the reason why he survived.

If they took a second to think, the Moonlit Black Cats would've found out his real level. Kirito spared them the speculation and told them outright. He'll probably end up being dismissed from the guild, but he was sick and tired of lying to them.

Breathing out, the guild leader finally broke the silence. "I can't believe it...why...why would something like this happen…?" He whispered, clutching his face with his hands.

"I...I'm sorry that I wasn't strong enough. If it hadn't been for Kirito to defend us and deduce the trap, we would've all...damn it…"Sefton trailed off before looking away, unable to keep his voice from breaking.

"No, Sefton. It wasn't your fault." Kirito quickly replied. _He_ was the one responsible. He knew better, and yet kept his mouth shut.

The attention shifted back to him. "...you know...I wouldn't have let you join if I had known that you were a Beater." Keita regarded him bitterly. Kirito didn't blame him. Sachi turned her head and was about to defend Kirito, but Keita quickly raised his hand. " _However_ , I'm not blind to the fact that you've contributed a lot to this guild." he added, before looking away. "So, what happens now?"

"I leave the guild." Kirito replied quickly. Sefton's eyes widened and Sachi gasped. "The Moonlit Black Cats is nearing the front lines. While I'm good at laying low, I don't want the guild to come under fire because they have a Beater in their ranks."

"But...we didn't even realize that you were a Beater until you told us!" Sefton protested hotly. "And you were different from the other Beaters! You helped us grow stronger! You even shielded Ducker with your own body!"

"It's something that I have to do sooner or later." Kirito explained as he shifted his attention back to Keita. "And whatever rumors or preconceptions normal players might have to Beaters, we probably deserve it."

A moment of silence passed, broken again by Keita. "...you're right, Sefton. Kirito's different from what I've heard about Beaters." He mused quietly. Kirito had to stifle a mirthless scoff, as it was him who popularized the term in the first place. "As for the guild, we'll slow down on leveling...I'm not in the mood to do anything…go do what you have to do. That is all."

On that gloomy note, the guild members went off on their own. Sasamaru was first to leave, stating that he had something to do. Tetsuo followed suit, simply saying that he wanted to be alone. Lastly, Keita just left without saying anything.

The only ones left were the three friends - Kirito, Sefton, and Sachi.

Having nothing more to do, Kirito stood up and started to head outside.

"Wait!" Sefton stopped him. "You don't really have to leave, do you?" He asked, his voice hopeful.

Kirito shook his head. "It's better this way."

Sachi turned her head to look at him. "Will we see you again?"

Kirito nodded. "Probably sooner than you think. This guild is strong. You'll be on the front lines in no time." He then opened his Player Menu and accessed the Guild tab. He hesitated for a moment, but he quickly pressed the settings to leave the Guild. The game system responded instantly, and he was no longer member of the Moonlit Black Cats. Sighing heavily, he continued on his way to the exit.

However, before he could open the door to leave, Sefton spoke up again. "Kirito." He started. Kirito stopped and slowly turned around to face his friend. The vanguard inhaled audibly before looking at the swordsman in the eye. "I'm an idiot, you see. I'll still buy stuff I probably don't need. I'll still get in trouble." He rambled, looking away momentarily, before inhaling sharply and returning his gaze back and pointing a finger at Kirito. "When that happens, I'll call for you. Don't you _dare_ ignore it because of your 'Beater" excuses, ya hear?!' He finished, raising his voice at the end to hide the cracks in his voice.

Kirito gave Sefton a lively grin. "Absolutely."

Sachi, staying silent until now, finally turned to look at Kirito. "Stay safe out there, Kirito-kun."

The swordsman's grin softened into a smile. "I'll try to." He replied. He took a moment to gaze at his friends' faces before turning around and opening the door heading outside.

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Loading...Complete  
Changing Perspective: Riwet  
*****_

 _October 12, 2023  
_ _39th Floor_

I busied myself with checking my equipment while leaning my back against a tree in a safe zone. The 39th Floor was pretty alien-looking for the most part, with trees having glowing veins in its trunk and bright, pulsating, neon blue leaves in its branches. Daylight was strangely dim at this floor, making it look like it was late in the afternoon on a cloudy day when it was really only a couple of minutes before noon.

I took a look around, finding myself all alone. Again. Well, I'm used to it, so I just shrugged and went back to what I was doing. The clearers were all over the place trying to find the Labyrinth. I just picked a random direction and went for it. Haven't run into anybody yet, though.

As I sorted my stuff, my eyes wandered over to the Party tab on my Player Menu. Parties, huh? It was slightly grayed out, silently notifying me that I was not currently in a Party.

…

Aside from boss raids and situations that absolutely need groups of players, I hadn't joined a party ever since...yeah…

...

Shaking my head, I slowly but nonchalantly closed my Player Menu and sighed. When you're on the top floors, It's in your best interest to be mindful of your surroundings, regardless of whether or not you're in a safe zone.

And now, I find myself tensing up ever so slightly as something approached me from behind. And I found myself being happy as it provided me with a distraction.

I stayed calm, but I slowly snaked my left hand to the holster at my back, gripping the handle of my knife. However, after a few moments of analyzing the sound, I relaxed my posture and called out to the source.

"Argo."

Because it was not an enemy.

The Rat made no further actions to hide her presence and walked leisurely towards me. "Yo, Ricchan." She greeted me when she came close enough and sat on a nearby rock.

"Hey there." I greeted back, not bothering to move from where I sat.

"I'm surprised that you've managed to detect me. Only very people could do that." She remarked.

"I got sick of it for what felt like the hundredth time." I replied. "Another job?" I asked.

"You betcha." She smirked.

"I'm not complaining, but I noticed that you've been contacting me pretty frequently, especially these past few months."

She grinned. "Your success rate is above average, you respond quickly to my messages, and you're are a joy to work with."

"Thanks for the compliment, but what the hell kinds of people are you dealing with?"

She chuckled softy. "Never take interpersonal and cooperative skills for granted. Quite a fair bit of my business associates with a similar level range with you either cut ties with me because they were too busy with guild activities, or are just very, _very_ annoying."

"Hmm." I hummed. "Well, what's the job?" I asked. That was probably enough small talk. Argo's a busy lady.

"The usual. Maneater Arachnid Carapace. Client wants twenty of 'em." She explained, shuddering.

Maneater Arachnids. Metal spider monstrosities from the 32nd Floor. Their bodies are about the size of our avatars, so in addition to their massive legs, they're pretty big. They run away when confronted by multiple players, so solo players are the only ones able to consistently farm them in a reasonable amount of time. They also justifiably freak the hell out of players.

That's too bad for them because Maneater Arachnid Carapaces are used for crafting a large variety of strong equipment. Good for me since they provide me and a few others with a constant source of income. Well, at least until we clear some more floors and find new stuff.

"Well, I guess I'll get started on it." I said while standing up and dusting myself off.

However, before I even thought of what I would do next, I had called out to the broker. "Hey, Argo."

"What's up?" She said.

I bit my lip and tensed up. I knew why I unconsciously called out for her. I should really just say 'never mind' and move on. They're just rumors. Forget about it. If she said that she doesn't know, it's gonna be even more bothersome for me.

Well, I already had her attention. Might as well ask.

Damn it. Couldn't resist, could you?

"I've been hearing rumors about a certain item, but they're pretty vague and contradictory to each other." I inhaled sharply before continuing.

"What do you know about the Divine Stone of Returning Soul?"

 _ *****  
Loading...Complete  
Changing Perspective: Third Person**_

 _December 24, 2023  
_ _35th Floor_

Mishe, the main settlement in the 35th Floor, was cold, more so than ever. The snow fell slowly, covering the city with white. Mishe used to be a very busy place, as it was a popular settlement for the Clearers. However, as the upper floors were unlocked, it became less and less populated.

Kirito didn't so much as take a brief look out his apartment room window, using his undivided attention to prepare for the coming battle. He wasn't there to take in the scenery.

A few months prior, Kirito heard some rumors from Argo. An item capable of reviving fallen players. Purportedly by an event monster named Nicholas, located in the Forest of Wandering on this very floor. He wondered if such a thing even existed and not just a product of some delusional player spouting nonsense loud enough to gather attention. In the end, it wouldn't have mattered. Because he would have gone either way, rumor or not.

Out of all the people that he knew had died, Ducker stood out most. He didn't care for the fact that he wasn't a top-level clearer. He let him down. Ever since he died, Kirito has been running the events over and over in his head, thinking about the steps he should've done that would've saved his friend. He could've suggested they take their usual farming route. He should've acted quicker in warning him of the trap. He shook his head. So many could haves and should haves and yet he wasn't able to do anything when it mattered.

He methodically checked his stats and his equipment. Two months of his life spent on power leveling in order to solo the boss. Considering the very nature of this death game, the boss would most likely just drop _one_ , and he wasn't in the mood to share.

He stood up, exited the building and made his way to the forest. He was indifferent to the winter scenery and the cold weather that accompanied it, not even bothering to wipe the bits of snow that had accumulated on his shoulders. His mind was in calm disarray, pondering about various topics that aren't connected to each other nor would help him in his current situation. He just let his mind wander aimlessly, eventually collecting his thoughts as soon as he entered the nearby forest area.

The Forest of Wandering. It was full of large trees that divided the forest into sub-areas reminiscent of a chessboard, where players will be transferred to a random area after traversing past their current area. Additionally, if Teleport Crystals are used within a forest, they would just transport the player to another area in the forest instead of the chosen location. While still a popular leveling area for non-Clearers, care must be taken in exploring this area, especially when traveling alone. As the name implies, it was easy to get lost.

Fortunately, there were solutions to this. The area transfer was not completely random. It just followed a complicated but readable pattern. In addition, a map can be bought at a nearby NPC shop. While the map is relatively expensive, it checks what areas the player's current area is linked to, allowing them to find their way.

Having memorized the map, Kirito had no difficulty traversing the forest. Still, at first, he walked slowly and carefully because the night sky and falling snow changed the landscape and hindered visibility. He spent a few minutes acclimating himself to the environment before quickly sprinting off to his destination.

As he came close to the monster's alleged spawn point, he turned to the side and abruptly stopped, his legs skidding on the snow-covered ground as he reached for the hilt of his sword.

A group of players emerged from the previous area into the area that Kirito was in. And standing in front was a player clad in red samurai armor with a Katana on his waist and a scarf on his head.

"Klein." Kirito muttered, putting his hands down and relaxing his posture.

In contrast to the other Fuurinkazan guild members who looked nervous, Klein raised his hand and smiled jovially at Kirito. "Yo."

"...were you following me?"

"Yep."

"...why?"

"There's a reason why Argo's called The Rat, you know." Klein chuckled for a second, then his smile faded and he peered intently at Kirito's eyes. "Fighting solo is crazy! Join us, Kirito! Whoever gets the item keeps it, no hard feelings! That's fair, right?!" Klein pleaded.

Kirito lightly shook his head. "Then there'd be no point."

Klein grimaced. "I can't let you die here, Kirito!"

 _I don't have time for this._ Kirito thought as he reached for his sword.

At that moment, another group of players appeared from behind Fuurinkazan.

"Looks like you were followed too, Klein." Kirito remarked, eyeing the intruders. There were at least 30 of them, and he recognized their guild icon. The Holy Dragon Alliance. The guild made out of members who didn't care if they become orange players as long as they get the item.

He grit his teeth and then relaxed as he drew his sword. He didn't want to fight them, but he had no choice. They're just going to take the Stone away from him. It didn't matter.

They can go orange and hurt him all they want. Kirito was willing to _kill_ for the Stone.

Fortunately, Klein's shout caused him to stop.

"Damn it!" The red samurai drew out his Katana. "Get to the boss, Kirito! I'll handle this!" He shouted.

Kirito sheathed his sword and went to the next area without saying thanks.

He reached the next area and sighed. It was in a secluded corner of the forest, but it was distinct. This area was a large clearing in contrast to the densely forested areas of the rest of the Wandering Forest. And in the center of the clearing, there was a giant curved fir tree. The alleged spawn point of the event monster.

Before took another step, he inhaled sharply and opened his mouth. "Come out. There's no use hiding." He said.

After a few moments, a figure emerged from behind a tree. Another familiar face. "Hello, Kirito." The player greeted. "How'd you know?"

"Riwet…" Kirito muttered, frowning. "I heard some faint sounds when Klein and the other guys came."

"Yeah...didn't expect them."

"Are you here for the revival item, too?"

"That's right."

"Then…" Kirito trailed off as he held the hilt of his sword.

Riwet raised his hand to calm him down and then opened his Player Menu. "The monster's gonna arrive in less than five minutes. How 'bout we deal with him first before we deal with each other?"

The black-clad swordsman drew his sword and pointed it at the glaive wielder. "Not a chance." He snarled.

But before he could do anything else, time seemed to skip, as Riwet very quickly stepped back and drew his glaive, pointing it towards Kirito. His friendly demeanor disappeared and he glared intently at him. "If you're so confident that you can beat me within the next few minutes and remain unscathed enough to challenge the boss, then go ahead and try." He snapped. Afterward, his glare softened but still remained stern as he slightly lowered his glaive. "I'm not. That's why I'm willing to help you. I'm more than happy to duel you for the item after the fact. But don't push your goddamn luck."

Kirito briskly moved his weapons away from Riwet. "Stay out of my way."

"Hmph." Riwet grunted as he did the same.

As the clock turned to midnight, an alarm sounded. It sounded like the typical sleigh bells that usually accompanied Christmas-themed events. They looked up at the sky and sure enough, there was a sled riding by, leaving glowing white trails on the dark, starry sky.

As it flew near the two players, a black shadow flew from down the sled and landed hard in front of them.

Sword Art Online's Nicholas the Renegade was a twisted perversion of Santa Claus who was three times the size of a player. The monster was still humanoid in appearance, but his arms were extremely long, almost touching the ground as he assumed a feral slouch. His small red eyes glowed ominously and the lower part of his face was covered by an unkempt gray beard that reached his waist. The monster was wearing a red and white shirt and a cone-shaped hat with the same color, and he was wielding an axe with the right hand and a bag full of things on the left hand.

A twisted take on a beloved mythological figure. As to be expected from Sword Art Online.

Nicholas was starting to say something as he looked at the two and opened his mouth.

"Shut up." Kirito muttered as he and Riwet sprinted towards the monster.

 *****  
** _ **Loading...Complete  
Changing Perspective: Riwet**_

That probably could've gone better.

I laid on my back in the snow, trying hard not pass out. My HP was in the red, and my body was covered with red marks. I brought my right hand close to my face. The bastard sliced it from the base of my forefinger down to my pinky, and only my thumb was left. I guess it was an improvement compared to the last couple of times.

Well, at least the snow's comfortable.

Kirito, who had been crouched down and catching his breath, stood up and came close to me. He was still breathing heavily, and it was the first time that I saw his HP in the red zone. He gazed silently at me. "What?" I said.

"Why did you push me away?" He asked, his voice flat. "If you hadn't pushed me away from his attack, I would've died. You could've finished him off and gotten the item."

"..." The answer was something that came to mind when we were in the middle of fighting Nicholas. And I also hate myself for coming to this conclusion without hesitating. "...because, Kirito, you're more important that who I was originally trying to save."

Kirito's face twitched at that. "You made a mistake."

I'm not in the mood to argue. "Maybe I did, maybe I didn't." I sighed. "Get out of here before I change my mind."

Kirito turned around and walked away, leaving me alone with my thoughts. I felt numb, both physically and mentally.

However, Kirito had turned back and approached me again. When I sat up and gave him a confused glance he threw something at me. I caught it with my hand. It was the revival item. "What are you doing?" I asked. Kirito didn't reply, silently urging me to take a look at the item's description. I touched the stone and read.

 _ **The item can be activated on the player's shortcut menu or by holding the materialized item and uttering 'Revive ... [Player's Name]'. The effect will only work during the time frame between the death of the player and the disappearance of item's effect light, which is approximately ten seconds.**_

Ten seconds. _Ten seconds._ I don't know what to say. Its effect was about as useful as a Healing Crystal. Never thought that something as powerful as a damn _revival item_ was gonna be this useless. What the hell's the point of a revival item when it's only usable in that short-ass time window? Once again, SAO gives, SAO takes away. All while probably having the time of its life watching us suffer.

Kirito turned around. "Use it on the next person you see die. _Except for me._ " He said flatly.

"...if you're gonna tell me how I should use it then you shouldn't have given it to me. I'll save for the people important to me. _Whether they like it or not._ " I implied. Kirito scowled and looked away before finally leaving the area. I'm not gonna use it to rescue some random schmuck that just so happened to die in front of me. I'm not that nice.

Eventually, I stood up, dusted myself off, and walked to the exit. I stopped by the Fuurinkazan, who were resting on the side. My mind was numb and tired, so I just greeted them robotically before going on my way, not even remembering our conversation. They looked worried, but my thoughts were to get away from this place as soon as possible.

As soon as I exited the Forest, I teleported away.

 _ *****  
Loading...Complete  
Changing Perspective: Kirito  
*****_

Kirito didn't know what to think. He had wanted to be alone, to wallow on his failures. However, Sefton messaged him, commanding him to come.

Before he could refuse, Sefton sent another message, stating that refusal is out of the question, and if he did, Sefton would 'track you using the Friends list and get you come with me, whether it be through friendly persuasion or public obscenity." Kirito actually chuckled at the last part which came out of nowhere. After thinking for a moment, he smiled tiredly and accepted. He probably shouldn't ignore the few friends he had.

It was a restaurant at the 15th Floor on one of the sleepier towns. To his surprise, Sachi was also there, saying that Sefton also messaged her to come.

"It's been a while since we hung out like this." Sefton grinned. "It's on the house, so eat up." He urged. Even though he had done a good job of hiding it, Kirito could hear the worry in his friend's voice. He decided to play along. After all, the food was good.

They ate in silence at first, with Sefton attempting some small talk here and there. Kirito just smiled politely, forcing himself to forget the events that transpired earlier. He had missed hanging out with them.

After they had finished eating, Sefton led them to a quiet little spot in the corner of the city, overlooking the night horizon. He stretched his limbs before he sat on the ground. The other two followed suit.

They spent the next few moments to catch up. They haven't really talked to each other ever since Kirito left the guild. They eventually ran out of things to talk about, so they just silently sat there and took in the scenery

Finally, Sachi spoke up. "Kirito-kun…" She muttered.

"...what is it?" He replied slowly.

"I...I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"I…knew of your true level...long before you told us." She exhaled sharply.

"What?" Kirito sputtered. "Why hide it?"

"..." The spearwoman took a deep breath. "Because...you protected us. You made me feel safe." She shook her head. "I thought really hard about why you would hide your level and join us...even now, I'm still trying to figure it out. But I was relieved. I was relieved that you were strong enough to help us…" She trailed off.

"Not strong enough." Kirito replied darkly.

"Alright, enough of the gloom and doom." Sefton announced. "Let's just put this all behind us for a bit and enjoy Christmas, shall we?" He opened his Player Menu and took out three glass mugs filled with hot chocolate. He gave one to Sachi and handed one to Kirito.

When Kirito reached out to take the cup, Sefton pulled his hand back. "Hey. I can't remember how many times I've told you this, but it bears repeating." Sefton inhaled sharply. "If you weren't there for us, _all of us would've died._ Never forget that." He said as he handed the cup.

Kirito held the cup and smiled. "I won't. I promise."

"Hmph. You better." Sefton huffed. "You know, the Moonlit Black Cats haven't been sitting around doing nothing these past five months. While progress is slow, we're almost there. Only a few more floors and we're ready to contribute to the front lines."

"Watch yourselves out there."

"We will, and so should you." Sefton raised his cup. "Cheers."

"Cheers." The other two replied.

With that, they silently drank the chocolate as they gazed at the horizon. After a few moments, the mood lightened considerably.

After finishing her drink, Sachi's eyes brightened as she thought of something. Setting her cup aside, she started swaying slightly as she hummed 'Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer'. Sefton and Kirito smiled softly and hummed along.

 _ *****  
Chapter End  
*****_

 **A/N** : I'm sorry for being late for a few days. I honestly didn't have much fun with writing this chapter, but that's probably because of external causes. Still, I hope that this chapter is worth a read and even though I said 'No Promises', I'll do my best to stick to my 'Every 30 Days' update schedule. I'll try to post the next chapter earlier to make up for this. On a minor note, I may have overused the term 'Renegade'. I forgot that that was Nicholas' title until I started working on this chapter.

At this part, I'd like to rant and ramble about my thoughts on AWE and also address the user named Seikah, who reviewed my story and gave me advice. Thank you very much for your review and opinions.

Yeah, I feel that my prose was rather weak and/or awkward at times, and it's inevitable that I'll make more mistakes and issues with prose as I write, but I assure you that I want to improve and I am challenging myself to be better.

Thank you for your positive thoughts on my self-insert. He's like, probably 60-75% me.

I'm not gonna say 100% because of two things: first is that by now we've had different life experiences. I haven't been trapped in a VRMMO death game yet while he's been there and in the thick of it for quite some time now, and that's just the start of it. Secondly, if Riwet is 100% Roderick Minett, then we wouldn't have a story. I don't live in Japan so I won't even be able to buy the NerveGear. Also, I don't really buy gaming consoles at their date of launch, so I wouldn't be there in the first place. And if I did, I probably would've died as early as Chapter 3 or never left the Starting City.

For me, that having relatively few Marty/Gary Stu traits are acceptable if I don't overdo it. The middle is good. The alternative would be either a full-blown Marty Stu, or the 'Anti-Stu' – an unpleasant, mostly useless, and pathetic character who in the end still wins, gets the girl, and be hailed as the greatest hero on the planet, while deserving absolutely _nothing_ of it.

Speaking of personality and traits, I make a point to not make him "annoying" (i.e. overly brooding, relentlessly motormouthed, constantly and relentlessly preaching, etc.) because I myself strive not to be. Sure, they can work when written well, but that's not the way I am. However, I do have my limits, and some people (Kibaou for instance) can incite a strong reaction out of me when I lose my cool.

I feel that Riwet is in the 'happy medium' for now in terms of...Sueness(?). "Thanks, my man." You're welcome, my man. Also, I've devised a couple of contingency death scenes for him if he goes too far in either extreme. If being a Marty Stu/Anti-Stu is the only option, why not say to hell with that and go out with a bang, right Riwet? "…" You're welcome, my man. In all seriousness, that's a good way for me to restrain myself. After all, who would _want_ to kill their SI because of too much Sueness? And since AWE is still in progress, I have a lot of room to mold him into a believable character and stamp out Sueness if it gets out of hand. Hmm, now that I think of it, I should post those scenes as bonus content if I'm past that point in the story.

On a side note, I can't stomach the fact that _a lot_ of the "is your character a Mary Sue?" Tests on the internet give Mary Sue likelihood for the simple fact that the character in question resembles the author or is a full-blown SI. That being said, now that I'm 13 chapters in, I realize why SI fics get such a bad rap, as I am admittedly tempted to highlight my strengths and sweep my weaknesses under the rug. Fortunately, there's a lot of challenge and fun in resisting those temptations and trying to write a believable and likable SI.

Lastly, relationships. I'll consider your advice regarding OCxSilica, but having to develop her as a teenager is not enough to change my mind. I honestly really want to write it, as well as the other characters' pairings so you can bet that I'll put even more TLC on those chapters. As for a teenager's development, I think it's too late to worry about that, as a lot of the characters are teenagers, so I need to develop them anyways. And like I said on Chapter 9, I plan on either pairing off the girls to someone, or giving them screentime to develop their character. In the end, I'll still have to develop Silica regardless of who she ends up with, if she ends up with anybody at all, so why not kill two birds with one stone?

So yeah, I'll concede that it'll be tricky, but I still wanna try it. And if I screw it up, I'll learn from my mistakes and resolve to do better. Can't learn if I don't try, right? It'll be slightly(?) unrealistic and _gloriously cheesy. Yum._ But nothing too crazy or melodramatic. It'll be fun.

At the end of the day, it doesn't have to be realistic. I just need to make sure that it doesn't suck.

Man, this went on longer than I expected. Alright! Back into it!

That's all for now. Thank you very much, and have a good one.


	14. CH 14 - Red Eyes Blue Little Dragon

Chapter 14 - Red Eyes Blue Little Dragon

 _February 23, 2024  
_ _35th Floor_

A gust of wind blew from behind her, and she turned around and stopped to enjoy it. She heard a calm purring, and she turned to her familiar, resting on her shoulder. She smiled before catching up to the others.

Silica was in a hunting party, and they were currently hunting monsters on the Forest of Wandering. Despite the confusing layout, it had become a popular farming area for mid-level players as the high-level players traveled at higher Floors, with the frontlines advancing to the 55th Floor.

She had been partying with them for two weeks now, and they were pretty skilled. However, as they were on their way towards the exit, the party had a shortage of healing items, and they had a discussion on distributing the remaining healing items they had.

A slim female spear wielder came up to her and sneered. "Oh come on, your lizard heals you, so you don't need the healing crystals, right?"

Silica felt insulted. "What about you? You don't even come close to the front. You just hang back anyways! Do you even need the crystals?" She shot back.

Their further exchanges got heated, and the party leader stepped in between them to break it off.

Having had enough, Silica angrily left the party. "You can have all of the items. I'm never going to party with you ever again. There are plenty of people who want to party with me anyways!" She said before walking away, briskly refusing the leader's suggestion to at least get out of the area before leaving the party. She didn't look back as she entered another area.

Silica immediately regretted her decision. She didn't have a map of the Forest of Wandering, so she was forced to go through the area blind, and Teleport Crystals were out of the question.

Anxious, she decided to head north and sprint from area to area, but it didn't seem like she was making any real progress. Still, she sprinted until she was about to pass out from fatigue. She stopped to look at the sky, and her heart sank as she saw that the sky was beginning to darken as the sun made way for the night.

She decided to walk onwards, hoping against hope that the exit was only a few areas away. However, the night sky obscured the environment, hiding low branches and roots that tripped her. Worse, monsters still attacked her, and it took her everything she had to fight them while being careful not to trip.

She took one more look at the sky. It was completely dark now. Due to her rash decision, she was stuck in a maze filled with monsters at night, her HP at half and all her healing items used up, even her emergency Healing Crystals.

As if sensing her nervousness, Pina rubbed her head on her master's cheek as she perched on her shoulder.

Silica was one of the few Beast Tamers in Sword Art Online. On rare occasions, a monster that should normally be hostile would show interest in the player. The exact circumstances to trigger this were vague, but once it happens, the player could tame it by giving it food.

Silica didn't know all of that until after she got Pina, a Feathered Little Dragon. She just went to some forest and it just happened to walk towards her with no signs of hostility. She gave it some peanuts, the monster got tamed, she named her after her IRL cat, and the rest was history.

Since Beast Tamers were rare, she was adored and envied by other players, doubly so because no one else had succeeded in taming a Feathered Little Dragon even after listening to how Silica did it. She received countless invites from mid-level parties and guilds, treating her like some sort of idol.

However, her fame as a 'Dragon Tamer' got to her head, and while she was still diligent in leveling, she became rash and arrogant when she was insulted or didn't get what she wanted, leading to her current predicament.

She slowly caressed Pina's neck while she purred. She had no right to be drunk on fame. At the end of the day, she was still a mid-level player far below the leagues of the Clearers in the front lines.

Silica took a deep breath. She promised that she wouldn't be full of herself anymore, just please, let the next area be the exit.

Her wish wasn't granted, as Pina raised her head and warned her of enemies.

Three Drunk Apes were in the next area, armed with crude clubs and carrying gourds. They bared their teeth and roared at Silica. She had no choice but to rush in and make the first strike. She got a clean hit and took off a bit of its HP, but not quite as damaging as she hoped.

Silica jumped back and narrowly avoided the second ape's attack, but her HP still took a noticeable hit when it scraped her arm. She had to be careful. Drunk Apes were slow and lumbering, but they were powerful enough that even a glancing blow did damage.

Pina opened her mouth and breathed a gust of air towards her master, replenishing her HP by about 10%. Tamed Beasts had special abilities, such as a more effective Scanning skill and Healing Skill on Pina's case. However, Pina's Healing Breath had a fairly long cooldown.

She continued her assault on the first ape, whittling its HP to half. However, the third Drunk Ape switched places with the one that was hurt and blocked her path, so she was forced to switch targets.

Her eyes widened when she saw that the injured Drunk Ape raised its left hand and drank from the gourd, its HP filling up at an amazing speed. She grit her teeth. She had faced Drunk Apes before, but she was in a party and they defeated it before it had the chance to heal. Silica nodded and focused on destroying the gourds in their hands.

After a few tense moments, she was able to destroy the gourds as she desperately jumped and darted around the apes to avoid their attacks, and even managed to bring one of the ape's HP down to the redzone. However, the stress of combat and her inexperience with playing solo reared its ugly head. She attempted to dodge a swing, but her feet felt numb and she couldn't move. Her surprise prevented her from blocking the attack, and it hit her directly. She was sent flying, and she slammed her back on a tree before landing unceremoniously on the ground.

Dazed, she looked up and saw that her HP was dangerously low. She froze. Up till now, fighting was only slightly dangerous, as she was prepared for the situation. But now, the fear of death made her body shake.

She sat there as a Drunk Ape raised its club to strike her. An attack that would undoubtedly destroy her. She could dodge out of the way, maybe even use a Teleport crystal. But in the end, she silently stared at the club as it turned red and was swung towards her.

A figure flew between her and the club, accompanied by a shrill cry. She heard the sickening sound of impact, and saw that Pina was slammed into the ground.

"PINA!" She screamed, running over towards her fallen friend. Pina let out a weak growl before relaxing as she glowed brightly. "Pina...Pina…!" She scooped Pina from the ground and hugged her tight. "PINA!"

Pina died in her arms, her body dissolving into particles and scattering in the wind. A familiar's AI was supposed to prioritize itself before anything else, but she still gave her life for her master.

Something broke within Silica. All her fear and anxiety was gone, and she felt calm. She could hear the Drunk Ape walking, approaching her from behind. Without even looking, she darted to the side and dodged an attack. Gripping her knife, she turned to the ape that killed Pina and unleashed her strongest Weapon Skill, cutting the ape in half.

She gazed at the two remaining Drunk Apes and activated a charge-type Weapon Skill - Rapid Bite. she ducked past a swing and slammed her dagger into the Drunk Ape, toppling it over and away a short distance. Then, she crossed her arms in front of her and was blown away by the third Drunk Ape. She landed on her feet and sprinted back, her dagger poised.

She didn't care that she overkilled the first ape. She didn't care that her HP was down to the redzone. What she _cared_ about was making sure that these two Apes wouldn't see the sunrise ever again.

However, her suicidal charge was cut short, as she saw that the Drunk Ape was destroyed.

She spotted a player behind the mess of particles. He was wearing medium armor that provided protection to his vital areas but was small enough to not be considered as bulky. A dull blue coat covered part of his body, and in his left hand, he held a one-handed Glaive-type Polearm, still glowing from a recently activated Weapon Skill.

The player glanced at her before turning his attention to the last Drunk Ape that was struggling to stand up and tore it to pieces before it could do anything.

Turning around, the player looked at her silently as he sheathed his weapon behind him. He was a bit slender, even when wearing his armor, and he was a head taller than her. His youthful face was a sign that he was only a couple of years older than her, but his silent stare seemed to make him a bit more mature.

All her rage and anger dissipated and was replaced by mounting sadness. She turned back to where Pina had died, and saw a single glowing feather. "Pina...don't leave me alone…" Her knees collapsed, and her trembling hands took the feather and held it close to her. "Pina!" She cried.

"Pina?" The player approached her and asked.

"My partner…"

"A Beast Tamer?...I'm sorry...I was too slow to save your friend…"

Silica shook her head. "No...I was being stupid. I was stupid to think I could make it through the forest on my own…" She turned her head to face him. "Thank you for saving me."

The player gave a brief smile to her before coming closer and kneeling near her, handing her a potion. She thanked him before taking the potion and drinking it. "We should take a look at that feather." He suggested.

Silica complied, and the two of them examined the feather, now labeled as Pina's Heart. A crushing fact that confirmed Pina's death.

However, as more tears fell from her eyes, the glaive wielder spoke up. "Hey. It said Pina's Heart, right? If it said Heart, then Pina can still be revived."

Surprised, Silica turned to look at the player again. "Really?" She asked meekly.

"On the 47th Floor, there's a field dungeon called the Hill of Memories. And at the top of that hill is a flower that can revive familiars." He explained.

Silica was relieved for a second, before realizing that she had a steep hurdle to overcome. "The 47th Floor…" she muttered. It was twelve levels above this Floor, and definitely not a safe area for her.

"I could go and get it for you, but they say that the owner should be there, or else the flower won't bloom…" The player said.

Silica smiled at him. "The information you gave me is enough. If I work hard to raise my level, someday I'll be able to…"

The player shook his head. "They can only be revived within three days after the familiar's death. After that, the item name changes from Heart...to Remains..."

"No...that can't be…" Silica hung her head down. Her level was currently 44. On paper, the 47th floor would be the recommended difficulty. But since this was a death game, the best thing to do was to level up until the player's level was 10 levels above the recommended level.

Silica needed to reach at least level 55 to safely traverse the 47th floor. If she took away the time she needed to clear the dungeon, she needed to level up _11 times_ within a span of two days. _Two days._

Impossible. Utterly impossible. She turned to look at Pina's feather, her vision distorted as tears dropped from her eyes.

The player sighed and looked away. It was almost inaudible, but she could hear him mutter something.

"Goddamn time limits."

The glaive wielder then stood up and opened his Player Menu. "Don't worry. You have the time." She received a notification, and she opened her Menu to reveal a trading window. She saw the player adding equipment in the tab. "These will boost your stats enough that you'll stay relatively safe on the 47th Floor. If I go with you, we'll be able to get the flower well within the three-day limit." He explained.

Silica stood up and looked directly at his face. She didn't understand what was happening. "What is it?" He asked.

"Why would you do all of this for me?" She asked back as she stored Pina's Heart in her inventory. Even though he saved her and offered to help her, Silica was weary of him. Up till now, more than a couple of male players started to pester her, with some even giving her a marriage proposal. As a thirteen-year-old girl, these experiences made her anxious.

He shook his head and stared at the trees nearby, frowning ever so slightly. "I have my own reasons as to why I'm helping you. I'll tell you all about it once we get out of here." He said, his frown deepening. "I've just about had it with this place."

Silica stayed silent. He didn't seem like he was going to 'profess his adoration to her' anytime soon. But still, his generosity and statement were suspect.

As if he could read her mind, he gave her a small smile. "You could party up with someone else, but I assure you that my motives will not, in any way, shape, or form, hinder you from getting Pina back." He said to her.

Silica pondered for a moment. He was a bit distant, but his words sounded sincere. He was different compared to the other male players that desperately vyed for her attention. And judging by how quickly he killed the Drunk Apes, he was certainly powerful.

She smiled back at him. "Please help me get Pina back." She pleaded. Whatever ulterior motives he might have, he still saved her life, and she will give him benefit of the doubt. Besides, Pina's revival was too important for her to waste time in doubting the people who wanted to help her.

She stared at the trade window and then started to put in all the Col she had. Looking at the equipment, all of them had very high stats, much higher than the equipment she was currently using. "Um, I'm sure that this isn't anywhere near enough to pay, but…"

The player shook his head. "You don't have to pay. These are spares, and I have enough Col for now."

"But…"

"As for the expenses, the rewards I get from killing the monsters on the way there would suffice. Sounds good?"

Silica accepted the trade. "Thank you. Really…" Then, she forgot that she hadn't even introduced herself. She straightened her body and held her right hand out towards him. "I'm Silica."

The player awkwardly started to extend his left hand, but he smiled sheepishly as he retracted it and offered his right hand in return. "I'm Riwet." They shook hands. "I hope we get along."

"That reminds me...have we met before?" Silica asked. Now that she thought about it, she might have seen him somewhere. This might explain why she trusted him.

"I'm not...really sure?" Riwet pondered. "To be honest, I was thinking the same thing." He smiled.

"Alright. The sooner we get out of here, the better." Riwet took out a map and looked for the shortest route towards the entrance. "Let's go." He said. Silica nodded and they started walking.

As she followed him, she opened her Player Menu and looked at Pina's Heart. She steeled herself as she held her hands close to her chest.

She will revive Pina, for sure.

After that, she closed her Menu and observed Riwet. His friendly smile was gone, replaced by a focused look as he scanned the area for monsters while following the path to the exit.

While much of him remained a mystery, she conceded that he's probably not a bad person.

 _ *****  
Loading...Complete  
*****_

They found themselves on Mishe, the most prominent city on the 35th Floor. Once abandoned by players in favor of the other floors, it resurged as a popular living area for the mid-level players right now, so there were quite a few people walking around.

While Silica's home was on a different floor, she was leveling on this Floor and she liked the cheesecake that the NPC cooks here made, so she had been staying here since two weeks ago.

As she led Riwet around, who silently followed her, a couple of players approached them. They were trying to get Silica to join their party for a while now. "Hey, Silica! Come on, party with us!"

She bowed as she politely refused their offers. When they still came closer, she glanced at Riwet and grabbed his arm. "Um...thank you for the offer, but I-I'm going to party with this person for a while!"

"What?! Really?!" The players exclaimed as they stared at Riwet suspiciously. While Silica clearly saw his skill in battle, he really just looked like any other player.

"Hey, you." A tall greatsword user who had tried the hardest to invite Silica walked over to Riwet, looking down upon him. "We've had our eyes on Silica for quite a while now. You shouldn't cut in line." He addressed him rudely.

While Riwet remained silent, his eyes darted to the side, showing that he wasn't comfortable with the attention. However, when the greatsword user stepped even closer, Riwet turned back to face him, his eyes narrow and hostile, causing the player to freeze in place. Before the situation could escalate further, Silica spoke up. "Um...I actually requested for this. Um...I'll see you later!" She said as she hurriedly walked away from the crowd, dragging Riwet along by the sleeve of his coat.

When the two were far away enough that they couldn't see the group of players anymore, Silica sighed and looked up at Riwet. "I'm sorry...for making you go through that…"

"It's alright. " Riwet replied. "I'm sorry too...I should've handled it better but I got surprised. I didn't know that you were pretty popular, Silica-san."

"Please, just call me Silica…It's not that I'm popular...they just want me along as a mascot. But I got full of myself...and ended up... ended up…" She muttered as she started to cry.

Riwet softly grabbed her shoulder. "Hey, hey. It's going to be okay. We'll bring Pina back, so don't worry about it, alright?" He said in a calm and soothing voice. Silica wiped her tears and smiled at him. He returned the smile with one of his own.

After walking for a few more minutes, they came upon a two-story building named the Weathercock Pavilion. Its first floor was a large restaurant, while the second floor was a living area with a countless number of rooms. It was the place where Silica often went to, both for eating and resting.

Now that they had arrived, Silica realized that she had led Riwet here without saying anything. "Ah, where's your home, Riwet-san?"

"It's on the 30th Floor. Are you going to stay here for the night?" He asked. She nodded. "Hmm, I guess I'll just stay here so that there'd be no hassle for tomorrow." He announced.

"Ah, okay!" Silica was excited for some reason. "The cheesecake here is really good."

"Really? Then let's go. Dinner sounds good right about now."

She was just about to head into the building with Riwet when four players walked nearby. They were the party member whom she had hunted with for the past two weeks. The three didn't notice Silica and simply went on their way, but the female player at the back looked towards her.

"Oh, if it isn't Silica." The player called out.

Silica turned her head and froze. It was Rosalia, the red-headed spear wielder who caused her to quit the party and traverse the forest alone.

"You somehow managed to get out of the forest. That's a relief." Rosalia said with a lopsided smile as she approached Silica.

Silica looked to the side. She met eyes with Riwet, who gave her a small smile before turning his head to face Rosalia, his expression hardening slightly. "Yes…" Silica replied quietly.

"Oh? What happened to your lizard?" Rosalia asked. Silica's face darkened. Rosalia continued with a slight smile. "Oh, by any chance…?"

"Pina's dead...but I'm going to save her!" Silica said, gazing at Rosalia with a determined expression.

"Hoh~" Rosalia whistled flippantly as she placed her left hand on her waist. "So...you're going to the Hill of Memories? But will you be able to do it at your current level?"

"Definitely." Riwet declared as he took a step forward and stood between them, hiding Silica behind him.

Rosalia looked at Riwet and scoffed. "You're another one of her fans? You don't look all that strong."

Riwet turned to face Silica. "Let's go." He said as they both began to walk towards the pavilion.

"Well, good luck I suppose." Silica heard Rosalia's laughing voice behind her, but she didn't look back.

When they were inside, Riwet told her to find a seat while he checked in and took two menus. As the restaurant was large, Silica easily found a spot.

As soon as Riwet sat down, Silica opened her mouth to apologize, but before she could speak, Riwet raised his hand to stop her. "Let's just eat first."

An NPC waiter came by just in time to take their order. After a few minutes, the waiter came back with the food they ordered. Silica ordered a bowl of soup and a quarter slice of cheesecake while Riwet ordered a bacon sandwich and a half slice of cheesecake. After saying their thanks, they started eating.

Silica had to suppress a smile as Riwet stuffed his face with the sandwich. "Mmm…" He made a satisfied sound as he was halfway finished with his sandwich. After a few more minutes, they finished their meals at the same time. "Ahh...you're not wrong. The cheesecake was delicious. The bacon's delicious, too." He sighed contentedly with a childish smile on his face.

"Right?" Silica agreed cheerfully. Ever since they started eating, she saw that Riwet's mood has lightened considerably.

The glaive wielder opened his Player Menu and brought out a wine bottle and two wine glasses.

"Um, Riwet-san...what's that?" Silica asked.

"Ruby Ichor. A full glass of this will increase your DEX stat by one. I only got enough for two glasses." He explained as he poured the red liquid into the glasses. "Here, have one. It's designed to taste like wine, but I promise that it's completely non-alcoholic."

"Okay." Silica took one of the glasses.

"Here's to Pina's successful recovery."

"Cheers." They clinked their glasses and took a sip. "Tasty…" Silica remarked. The sweet taste of the ichor reminded of the wine that her father had let her try a long time ago. The nostalgic taste slowly brightened her mood which was previously dim because of the things that happened today.

"Well, it costs quite a bit, so it better." Riwet said as he took another sip.

"How much is it?"

"Don't worry about it." Riwet smiled.

Silica took another sip. She set the glass on the table and turned her head downwards to look at it. "Why...why does she say such mean things..."

Having finished his drink, Riwet also set his glass to the table. "Is this your first MMO?" He asked.

"Yes…" Silica said as she raised her head to look at Riwet.

His smile and friendly demeanor disappeared, reverting into the cold and distant expression he had earlier. "When people play any game with RPG elements, they tend to change their personalities to match the characters they have created. It's called Roleplaying. Heck, even a lot of online personalities act differently whether they're on or off camera."

"In any other game, people could have tons of fun Roleplaying. From dashing heroes to loveable rogues...to vile villains. But this isn't any other game. SAO is _less_ than a game…" He clasped his hands together and squeezed his knuckles. "We have no reason to act like that."

"Riwet-san…"

The glaive wielder shook his head slightly as he broke eye contact and stared at his glass. "Though... I'm not really one to talk. You know the Forest of Wandering, right?" He asked.

"Yes…" Silica nodded.

"...a couple of months ago, I... got into a serious fight with a friend because an item was supposed to appear there. We...we came close to ki...close to...close to killing each other. _For a damn item that we weren't even sure if it even existed._ It turned into a fuc...a damn sh..show. In the end, I...got the item and we both ended up alive...but the item was next to useless. He was one of the few players that I could call a close friend, and yet we went our separate paths on a bad note..." He trailed off with a melancholic expression.

Silica observed him quietly. She couldn't comprehend his whole situation, but she understood that he had to make a very hard decision. Instinctively, she reached out with both of her hands to grasp Riwet's shaking hands. "Riwet-san is a good person. You saved me, and you're even helping me out right now to save my friend."

Riwet jerked in surprise, but he soon relaxed and his hand stopped shaking. Tears welled up in the edges of his eyes, and he blinked rapidly and tried to force it back. He looked straight at Silica's eyes. "Thank you. Thank you, Silica…" He muttered as he smiled softly.

It was different from the friendly grin he displayed when they were eating, and it was certainly different from the polite half-smile he had when they first met. This was a bright smile, thanking her for comforting him. For some reason, Silica's heart felt like it was being constricted, and her face felt hot. She pulled her hands away and pressed it to her chest to calm her pounding heart, but to no avail.

"Are you alright, Silica?" He looked at her worriedly.

Silica shook her head and smiled at him. "N-n-nothing!" She exclaimed as she drank all the contents of her glass. "I-I'm probably just worn out."

"I see...let's go. We have a long day tomorrow." Riwet suggested as he wiped his eyes.

It was already past eight when they walked to the second floor. They decided to turn in early to rest for tomorrow's quest. Coincidentally, the room that Silica rented was right next to the room that Riwet rented.

"Good night, Riwet-san." She said.

"Just Riwet is fine. Good night, Silica." He replied.

"Then...good night, Riwet...san…" She mumbled slowly and quietly. Riwet didn't hear her and was already entering his room. Silica pouted before entering her room.

As soon as she was in her room, Silica decided to try on the new equipment for a bit. She opened her Player Menu and took out the Ebon Dagger. She was surprised that she found the weapon to be completely comfortable in her hand, if not a little heavy. Looking at it closely, it was upgraded and customized so much that she didn't quite believe Riwet when he said that it was just a spare. She practiced swinging it around for a bit before storing it, changing to her sleepwear, and lying on the bed.

She felt fatigue envelop her body as soon as she relaxed on the comfortable bed, but she found herself unable to sleep. Ever since they became friends, she always cuddled with Pina when she slept. Now, the bed felt large...and empty. She tossed and turned for a while before sitting up. Rubbing her face with her hands, she glanced at the wall on the side of her room, the wall that separated her room from Riwet's.

She recalled the times that he talked to her, from the first time they met, to the time he said goodnight to her. She wanted to know more about him. She was surprised that she thought that way, especially since he was a male player whom she had known for less than a day.

She looked at the clock and saw that it was ten. She could no longer hear the noise of the other players outside, only the almost deafening sound of silence. She decided that she should just sleep. But for some reason, she got out of the bed and put on a tunic. She exited her room and walked along the candlelit corridor, stopping in front of Riwet's door. She hesitated for a few seconds before knocking at his door. However, as soon as she knocked, she realized that she didn't really have a reasonable excuse for wanting to talk to him.

Before she could think of something, the door opened very slightly, and a figure peeked from the crack. "Silica?" Riwet said before fully opening the door. He had most of his equipment unequipped, wearing a simple blue shirt and black trousers. He also had a knife holstered on his back. "Can I help you with anything?"

"W-well..u-umm...ah! I-I wanted to know more about the 47th Floor!" Silica blurted. Fortunately, Riwet didn't notice anything and nodded.

"Sure. I was planning to tell you tomorrow, but I guess it's fine. Should we go downstairs?"

"Um...well, if it's alright, in your room…?" She muttered without thinking. "U-um, I-I don't want anyone else to hear what we're talking about!" She quickly added.

Riwet pondered for a moment as he scratched his face. "Sure. That works, I guess." He shrugged as he took a step back. "Well, come in." He said as he stepped aside and let Silica enter the room. After that, he opened a digital window to turn the lights on before closing the door.

Riwet's room was identical to Silica's. A bed on the left with a tea table and a chair at the center. The only source of light was a single lantern mounted on the wall, letting out a warm glow.

Riwet sat on the chair and pulled it closer to the table. "You'll have to sit on the bed. I'll need the table for this. Sorry." He explained as he opened his Player Menu.

As she sat down, Riwet placed a small spherical device at the center of the table. It had intricate designs on its side and a small crystal button on its top.

"What's that?" Silica asked.

"It's called a Mirage Sphere." He said as he clicked the crystal on the top. As soon as he did this, the sphere split into two, with the top half rising and leaving behind a column of light. The top half stopped rising after a few feet, and five panels separated from it and changed the light column into a sphere, forming it into a holographic map displaying the floating castle, Aincrad.

"Uwaah…" Silica stared blankly at the dazzling lights. "So pretty~"

"Let's see...47th Floor...47th Floor. There we go." Riwet said as he manipulated the item. The display slowly zoomed towards the Floor and showed the villages and trees in great detail. "It's pretty detailed, but it's a bit too slow and needlessly flashy and complicated, so it won't render simple map data obsolete anytime soon."

"Hmm...where is it...there it is. Here's the main city," He pointed on the map, "and this is the Hill of Memories." He pointed to an area close to the city. "We'll take this route." He traced a line. "The monsters here are a bit strong, but the 47th Floor isn't really that difficult in general. We can manage if we're being careful."

Riwet went on and explained the general things that they would see and encounter on the floor. Silica felt confident as she listened to him.

"And at the end here, we could see-" Suddenly, Riwet stopped talking.

"...?" When she raised her head, she saw that Riwet's expression turned hard as he glared at the door. Before she could ask, Riwet jumped off of the chair and opened the door.

Silica could hear the sound of footsteps running away from them. She ran over and peeked outside from under Riwet's body, and she saw someone's shadow disappearing down the stairs.

"What...was that…?"

"Eavesdropper."

"What…? But you can't hear anything through a door, right?" She said they went back to the room.

"You can if you leveled up your eavesdropping skill, but only a few people would bother to train that…" Riwet elaborated as he closed the door.

Silica sat on the bed and wrapped her arms around herself. She glanced at Riwet who had unsheathed his knife and held it with his left hand. He saw Silica's frightened face and quickly sheathed his knife, before shaking his head and completely storing it in his inventory. "I'm sorry for startling you…" He apologized.

"N-no, it's fine, but...why were they eavesdropping...?" Silica asked.

"I don't really know...but I've learned that there's simply a lot of people who just can't resist spying on others." Riwet shrugged. "Don't worry. I've had my fair share of these types of people, so I was able to drive them off before they were able to hear anything." He assured her.

"Now…where were we…? Riwet trailed off as he sat on the chair and looked at the holographic map. His eyes widened as he realized something. "Oh...uh...I forgot that I have to send a little message. Could you wait for a bit?" He asked. Silica nodded. "Thank you. It'll only take a moment." He said as he closed the Mirage Sphere and turned the chair around as he started typing his message.

Silica laid on his bed, feeling warm and comfortable as she remembered a nostalgic memory. Her father was a reporter, and he was always in front of a computer, typing something with a serious expression. She liked to watch his back as he did that.

She felt her eyelids become heavy as fatigue once again washed over her. Unable to resist, her eyes closed on their own and she sighed softly.

 _ *****  
Changing Perspective: Riwet  
*****_

 _To:_ _Argo_

 _10 Drunk Ape Clubs and 5 Drunk Ape Fur pieces collected. Something came up, so I won't be able to deliver it early. I'll hand it over to you on the given deadline - two days from now. Also, I don't need to sell the following items: Silverthread Armor, Moon Blazer, Fairy Boots, and Florit Belt. You can take it off the list. I'll see you soon._

Aaaand...Send. Keeping my Menu open, I waited for a few minutes, and then she replied and confirmed my mail. Satisfied, I closed my Menu and turned around.

"Sorry about that, Sil-" As soon as I faced her, I shut my mouth.

Silica was asleep in my bed.

I quietly stored my Mirage Sphere and scratched the back of my head. I looked at her for a moment. She shifted a bit, and I realized that she was shivering slightly. She forgot to pull the blanket over her upper body.

I took a deep breath and steeled myself as I slowly and carefully draped the blanket over her shaking shoulders. She didn't wake up, only unconsciously smiling as she clutched the warm blanket. I backed away and looked at her again.

The poor girl had a hell of a night. She got lost in a forest at night, lost her friend, got stuck with a weirdo, and got heckled by bastards. I should probably just let her sleep on my bed. But I can't get inside her room unless I send a request to her, and she's fast asleep right now.

Well, time to sleep on the floor. I opened my Player Menu and placed a Sleeping Mat on the floor perpendicular to the bed, along with a pillow and a blanket. My usual sleeping time is 3-4 hours on average, but I'll sleep for 7 hours tonight. Don't wanna screw up tomorrow's mission.

However, before I was able to lay down, Silica started shivering again. I walked closer to her and got a bit worried.

She was crying.

"Pina...no…" She whimpered, her shoulders shaking.

Damn. She couldn't catch a damn break even though she was sleeping. I should do something, but what…?...I have an idea, but I'm not too sure about it….

"Please...no…don't leave me..." Alright, that's the last straw.

I walked over to her and knelt. I gently patted her head, taking care not to ruffle her hair too much. I saw it in an anime once, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I won't have any excuse if she woke up, but at the very least she'll be out of her nightmare.

A few seconds later, it seemed to have worked. Her shoulders stopped shaking, and her frightened expression melted into a gentle smile. Oh, thank goodness. I'll keep patting her head for a few more minutes, just to be sure.

I took a close look at her face, carefully wiping the tears off the edges of her eyes as I continued patting her. I'm lucky that I very rarely had nightmares about the shit I had to deal with.

I never really knew what drove me to help her. Was it because she was cute? Maybe. Was it because I just happened to be there when she needed somebody, and it feels good to be needed? Probably…

Still, I couldn't shake off the feeling that I knew her from before. I felt like somewhere, somehow, this girl had inspired me. If that was the case, I probably owe her an apology for forgetting about her, but since she didn't recall me either, I'm not really sure of what to say…

"Mn…" Her satisfied sigh broke me out of my thoughts. I checked the time...huh... I've been patting her head for half an hour now, but it only felt like a few minutes. Did some supernatural entity, like, erase time or accelerate it, or something?

I slowly pulled my hand away, but I soon as I did this, Silica reacted. "Ah…" She made a small, discontented mewling sound. I placed my hand back and patted her head. "Ehehe~" Oh wow, she actually giggled.

After a few minutes, I pulled my hand away. "Ah…" I placed my hand back. "Ehehe~" While it was fun watching her react, she'd probably wake up if I keep messing with her. I continued patting her for half an hour and by then, she finally stayed smiling even after I removed my hand.

…

…

...is it just me, or is she drooling a bit…?

…

...

Cute…

…

Wait, what the hell am I doing?

Shaking my head, I slowly stood up and stretched, a bit surprised that my legs didn't hurt even after I kneeled for almost an hour.

After double checking that the door was locked, I laid on the mat, placing my head on the pillow. As I relaxed, I looked at my hand. I remembered Silica's smile as she held my hand and comforted me.

…

Wow...uh...it's gotten a bit hot…

I unburied myself from the blanket, placing it just below my armpit. I faced away from Silica and stared absently at the door. Before I fell asleep, I looked behind me and checked on Silica one last time. She was still comfortably sleeping.

Satisfied, I turned back around. "Sleep tight." I muttered before I closed my eyes and slept.

 _ *****  
Loading...Complete  
Changing Perspective: Third Person  
*****_

Silica woke up to her alarm that sounded in her ear, set to wake her up at 7 am.

She pushed the blanket to the side and sat up, yawning as she stretched. It was usually hard for her to get up in the mornings, but today she felt refreshed, her fatigue and anxiety seemingly washed away by the deep sleep.

Silica was just about to get off the bed when she realized that there was another person in the room. She froze, her half-asleep mind going into overdrive as she tried to recall what happened last night, only for her mind to perform a screeching halt as she fully remembered.

She fell asleep in Riwet's room... _she fell asleep on Riwet's bed._

Her face was burning hot. It seemed that Riwet let her sleep and just decided to take out a mat and sleep there on the floor. Silica groaned as she covered her body with the blanket out of embarrassment.

After calming herself down, she got off the bed and silently walked over to Riwet.

His sleeping face had the same neutral expression he usually had, but his posture was what made Silica smile. His arms were wrapped around the pillow while his head was hunched downward, simultaneously laying his head on the pillow while hugging it.

It was fun watching him, but they should get going. She got closer to him and was about to reach over and grab his shoulder when he stirred and his eyes flickered. Half-asleep, he rolled over to face her and he stared at her dreamily. Her face erupted again and she quickly retreated into the bed. "G-g-good morning!" She stammered.

His eyes widened and he sat up abruptly. "Oh...uhh...yeah. Good morning." He replied as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "I thought of waking you up, but you were fast asleep, and I couldn't enter your room, so I made myself comfortable here. Sorry about that."

Silica quickly waved her hand. "N-no. I should be the one apologizing. I-I'm sorry for using your bed."

"Did you get enough sleep?."

"Y-yes, I feel really refreshed."

"Th...that's...that's good." Riwet muttered, lightly scratching his face with his finger, blushing slightly as he looked away.

"...?" Silica tilted her head.

"It's nothing." Riwet said as he stood up and stretched. He then opened his Player Menu and stored the sleeping mat. "Let's get ready."

"Okay." Silica nodded.

Silica exited his room and went back to her room to change. She equipped the clothes that Riwet gave her. In SAO, most of the equipment had two different designs to cater to the different genders and automatically adjusted its size to fit the player. Of course, players could choose to wear the design tailored for the other gender, and there were also clothing and equipment that were unique to each gender.

Silica exited the room and met up with Riwet who was standing in front of his door. "All done?" He asked.

"Yes!" She replied. "So...h-how do I look?" She asked meekly. She was wearing a red robe that exposed part of her shoulders, a short black skirt, fingerless red gloves and shoes with long black socks. The Ebon Dagger was holstered behind her waist.

"Yeah. Looks good." He stated. "But are you comfortable jumping around on that? I've looked into it, and a lot the monsters that we'll be fighting on our way to the revival flower have appendages that would wrap around players and swing them around or hang them upside down." He explained.

"...please wait for a minute." Silica requested as she went back into her room and wore a pair of shorts underneath her skirt. She hadn't really thought about it since her previous clothes didn't have a skirt, just a simple pair of knee-length shorts. She exited her room. "Okay, I'm ready. For real this time." She said to Riwet.

"Alright. Let's get something to eat." He concluded. The two of them smiled at each other.

It was bright outside when they went downstairs for breakfast. After that, they resupplied their healing items at the NPC shop right next to the pavilion. The two headed for the teleport gate and reached it without running into anyone who wanted Silica in their party.

"Hang on, let me double check our destination…" Riwet said as he accessed his Player Menu. "Hmm...okay. The destination's called Floria, alright?" Silica nodded. "Alright then. Teleport! Floria!"

As soon as he said this, a bright light covered them. She felt that she was moving vertically, not unlike how she usually feels when she rides an elevator. After a few seconds, the sensation of movement stopped and the light dissipated.

"Wah~" Silica gasped cheerfully. Aside from four paths that connected to the other parts of the city, Floria's Teleport area was filled with flowers of all shapes and colors. Flower petals also littered the ground and flew with the wind. "Amazing…"

"Yeah. It didn't really show in the Mirage Sphere, but this whole floor's covered with flowers." Riwet said.

Silica smiled as she ran towards a nearby flower bed. She crouched down and looked at the bluish flowers, and giggled as a ladybug flew off from one of the leaves. She followed it with her eyes as it flew onto the horizon, where she saw that a lot of people were lounging and slowly walking. She realized that most of the people here were couples, happily conversing with each other as they held hands or linked arms. Well, it was not hard to figure out that such a beautiful Floor would be frequented by couples.

Silica turned her head and looked up at Riwet before quickly turning her head back, a blush forming quickly on her face. She looked at the couples again. _They look so happy... I wonder if...Riwet-san and I were to...be a c-c-co-cou-coup-p-p-p...would we look like that...?_

"Silica?" Riwet asked thoughtlessly from behind her.

"Y-yesh?!" She started, standing up and abruptly turning around to face him and trying hard to hide her blush by looking down and slapping the dust off her clothes.

"Are you nervous...?" He asked.

 _Huh? Huuuh?! A-awawawawa…._ Her mind raced as she peeked at his face through her bangs.

"If you want, I'll go somewhere while you calm down." Riwet suggested. "I could see why you're nervous. We're about to fight monsters 12 Floors above, after all."

"Eh?! N-no, no! No need for that!" She replied, taking a series of slow breaths. He had probably noticed that something was bothering her, but didn't exactly know what. She felt mostly relieved, but a tiny bit...disappointed. Well, only a tiny bit. Miniscule, even.

…

"Haah…" She sighed silently.

"Well, if you say so…" Riwet pointed to the horizon. "The Hill of Memories is over there. Let's go." Silica nodded and they walked side by side. "We're all set on potions, right?" She nodded. "What about Teleport and Healing Crystals? Do you have enough?"

She opened her Player Menu to check. "Um...I have about 5 Teleport crystals and 10 25% Crystals in my inventory. Oh, and also one 50% Crystal." She replied. Healing Crystals were classified by the percentage of max HP they replenished. 25% Healing Crystals were the most used item by mid-level players due to its cost-effectiveness, and even then, they were quite expensive. The other crystals with higher percentage health heals were considerably more expensive, but will be much more affordable when players increase their level and grow strong enough to farm Col at the higher Floors.

"Hmm...here. Take it and don't hesitate to use it the first chance you get when things go belly up." He said as he handed her a Healing Crystal that could heal _80%_ of her maximum HP.

"But…" Silica muttered.

"Since we have three days anyway, there's no harm in teleporting away. But you probably want Pina revived ASAP. This," he looked at the crystal, "is plan B. Plan C is that we teleport back and try again. Honestly, I'm confident that we'll get there on our first try, but no harm in being careful."

"Okay…thank you."

They slowly made their way towards the city gates. Silica would sometimes peek at Riwet's direction. He had a laid back look on his face as he looked at the city and occasionally looking at the flowers. She also caught him sneaking a look at her, though he quickly and nonchalantly looked away.

After a few moments, Silica opened her mouth. "'Um, Riwet-san."

"Yeah?"

"S-so...why are you helping me? Why are you doing this for me?" Silica asked once again. While she was grateful for the help and relieved that Riwet turned out to be a nice person, she still didn't know why he was helping her.

Riwet's pace slowed down as he contemplated. "A couple of reasons. Part of it is that, well...I could help. Simple as that. Another part of it is because...once in a while, it feels good to help and know that you're needed." He looked away. "Sorry. I really don't have any particular reason. I just...felt like it…sorry..." he concluded apologetically.

Silica ran forward, turned around to face him, and stopped in front of him. "Whatever your reason is, you've already helped me so much. Please...don't apologize…" She smiled at him.

Riwet smiled back at her. "Man, that's the second time you've cheered me up. Thank you, Silica." Their smiles widened as they looked at each other for a moment, and they continued on their way.

"Alright, we're in hostile territory now." Riwet declared the moment they left the safety of the city. "Let's keep our eyes peeled." He said as he diligently scanned the area around them while they walked.

Silica nodded, reaching out behind her making sure that her Ebon Knife was equipped as she held its handle for a few seconds.

After a few minutes, Riwet spotted an enemy. "Enemy! behind us!" He said as he spun around and brandished his glaive.

Silica turned around, but she didn't see anything until it was too late. Two tentacles shot out towards them and wrapped themselves onto Silica's ankles. She lost her balance as the tentacles lifted her up and pulled her.

"SILICA!" Riwet shouted as his hand shot out and tried to reach her. Silica twisted her body and tried to reach him back, but he was too far, only able to touch her fingertips as she was lifted high up in the air.

A monster called the Garish Gerbera emerged from the ground, walking menacingly towards them. It resembled a giant sunflower, with green petals around its head. It had two vines that sprouted from either side of its body, which it was using to constrict Silica. It used its numerous roots to stand up and walk.

The monster lifted Silica up and placed her directly above it. Then, its jaw opened, revealing a giant mouth and several teeth. Strings of saliva hung from the walls of its mouth.

Its vines lowered Silica. It was going to swallow her whole.

"Hyi-" She froze as a scream formed in her throat. "NOOOO! R-Riwet-saan!"

"Silica! Don't panic! It's actually pretty weak! Stay calm and start slashing!" Riwet explained loudly.

"O-OKAY! Okay! Okay...fuuu…" Silica took deep breaths and calmed herself down. "That's enough!" She grabbed onto one of the vines and sliced it off, and did the same thing to the other one. She fell directly above the monster's head as it slumped forward in pain, exposing a vulnerable spot at the top of its head. She activated a Weapon Skill mid-air and slammed it into the weak spot. The Garish Gerbera exploded from its head down, and Silica landed lightly amidst the particles, her HP - and dignity, thanks to her shorts - left intact. "I did it...I did it!" She hopped excitedly and turned around to face Riwet. "I did it!"

"See, I told you that you could do it!" Riwet remarked. As Silica began dusting herself, he pointed at the top of her head. "You got a flower petal stuck on your hair."

"Where? Here…?" She asked as she brushed the side of her hair.

"No, a bit more to the front...hang on, I got it." He approached her and brushed the petal off her hair.

She froze at the sudden physical contact, her face turning hot. She was relieved that it was only for a split second…

...or so she thought, as Riwet was actually patting her head.

 _Wh...Wh...Wh...Wh...Wh..._ Her mind was on loop trying to comprehend the situation, and she swore that her face was steaming.

However, after what felt like a minute, she began to feel comfortable. It was strangely nostalgic, making her feel warm and at ease. Despite herself, she unconsciously raised her head slightly and let out a satisfied giggle. "Ehehe~"

At that moment, Riwet's hand stopped. Their eyes met and they stared blankly at each other. Then, their minds caught up to what they were actually doing, and they separated from each other in the blink of an eye. Silica, her face as red as her clothes, hung her head down and held her hands close to her mouth. Riwet, equally flustered, covered his mouth with the back of his hand as he looked to the side.

"..." Without raising her head, she looked up at him meekly through the gaps of her bangs.

"..." Coincidentally, his eyes moved to look at her.

"!" Their eyes met for a split second. "~~~" They broke eye contact and looked away, their faces becoming even redder.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Um…." Riwet started.

"..." Silica peeked at him. He was still looking away.

"So…"

"..."

"I...I think I got the petal off…"

"Y-yes...I think you did…"

"..."

"..."

"...pfft." Silica blocked her mouth with her hand, but she couldn't stop giggling. "Hehe...hehehe~"

"...heh." Riwet let out a chuckle as he moved his hand away from his mouth.

They continued to giggle softly for a few seconds. Goodness...they could only act like idiots for so long before being unable to stop laughing at their own awkwardness.

"Alright! We're done with this part. Let's get a move on." Riwet said. Silica nodded enthusiastically.

They went through a few more battles with the monsters before they got comfortable and picked up the pace. The plant monsters were large and imposing, but Silica's determination and the Ebon Dagger's strength pulled her through, defeating the monsters with surprising ease.

However, now that she got a clear look at it, Riwet's strength was even more impressive. For the first few encounters, the glaive wielder stepped forward and wounded the monsters before jumping back and letting her finish it off. He was pretty fast considering that he was wearing armor, and even the quick stabs he did dealt considerable damage.

He had a balanced style of fighting that was as versatile as it was deadly. Only a few flashy moves, but also no glaring weaknesses and could adapt when needed.

They made it through the area and arrived at the top of the hill. In the distance, Silica could see a floating stone pedestal amidst the flower beds. They ran towards it and carefully examined the top of the rock.

As soon as she got close, the top of the pedestal glowed bright yellow. A small sprout grew from it, quickly growing larger. The top of the sprout broke away and revealed a white bud. It only took a few seconds for the plant to grow to its full size, and the bud finally opened into a flower. As the pedestal stopped glowing, seven petals folded outwards, revealing a glowing center.

"That's probably it. Go ahead, take it." Riwet said. Silica nodded and held the stem just below the flower. The plant's lower half disintegrated, and she was left with only the flower. She opened a window and the item's description. It was called the Pneuma Flower, and it was in the fact the item that could revive Pina. Further down the description were the steps she needed to take to activate it.

"Is that the item?" Riwet asked.

"Yes...yes…!" Silica was overjoyed as she held the flower to her chest. Her shoulders started shaking, relieved that could really bring Pina back.

She spent a few moments in silence, overwhelmed by happiness to do anything else but stand there and softly clutch the flower. She noticed that Riwet was patiently standing behind her and waiting for her to calm down. Finally, she turned to face him and smiled tearfully.

He returned the gesture with a smile of his own. "Let's head back. It's too risky to revive Pina here." Riwet suggested.

"Yes!" She nodded. They started to head back towards Floria. She really wanted to just use her teleport crystal, but she was in no immediate danger and didn't want to waste an expensive item when she could avoid it.

When they were about to cross a bridge, Riwet suddenly held his arm out and stopped Silica. She was about to ask him what was wrong when he looked forward and opened his mouth. "Why don't you come out and let me see your face?" He said out loud.

After a few seconds, a figure emerged from behind a tree on the area beyond the bridge. It was the red-headed spear wielder, Rosalia. "You have quite a high Scanning proficiency don't you, knight-san?" She sneered. When Riwet didn't respond, she looked over to Silica. "It seems that you have the Pneuma Flower. Congratulations. _Now hand it over._ " She commanded.

"W-what?" Silica gasped and took a step back.

"Not gonna happen." Riwet stepped forward and shielded her. "You know, for an Orange Guild, that's pretty sloppy. Especially for the leader. Don't you agree, Rosalia-san of the Titan's Hand?"

Rosalia's eyes twitched and her expression hardened for a second.

In SAO, players who committed crimes have their cursors' color changed from the normal green to orange, indicating their criminal status. Guilds that consisted mostly of orange players were referred to as orange guilds.

"Um..but Rosalia-san's cursor...it's green…" Silica said.

"A common tactic between orange guilds is to have green players scout out potential targets and lure them out so that the orange players could ambush them." Riwet explained. to Silica. "I assume one of your lackeys were the ones that eavesdropped on us?"He addressed Rosalia.

Rosalia grinned sardonically. "Very good, knight-san~."

Silica looked at Rosalia, shocked and terrified. "Then...the reason she partied with us for the past two weeks was because…"

Rosalia looked at Silica, her grin widening. "I was checking out how strong the party was, and I was also waiting for them to collect loot before I take of them. In fact, I was supposed to take care of them today, but I was really looking forward to you, Silica." She licked her lips. "It was unfortunate that you left, but then you said you were getting a rare item. Pneuma Flowers sell pretty high these days~"

Rosalia glanced away from Silica and looked at Riwet as she shrugged. "You knew all that, and yet you still went with her. For being Silica's fan, you sure are tenacious. You don't even care that she's got you wrapped around her finger." She snickered.

Silica's face turned red at her insult, and her hand moved towards the hilt of her knife. Riwet stopped her. "I got this. Just be ready to Teleport." He turned to face Rosalia. "Actually, I was looking for you, Rosalia-san."

"What are you talking about?"

"Ten days ago, you attacked a guild called Silver Flags. After ambushing them, you left them for dead. Only the leader survived."

"Oh, those beggars. I remember them~"

"The leader went from Teleport Gate to Teleport Gate, trying to get someone to avenge them, but not kill you. And that's why I'm here."

Rosalia waved her hand dismissively. "You're even more of an idiot than I thought. What, do you help everyone who grovels in front of you? Why are you so serious? It's not like there's any proof that killing someone means that they die in real life. Besides, shouldn't you be worrying more about yourselves?"

On cue, ten more players emerged from the other trees. All of them were orange players, except for one - a spiky-haired player, likely the eavesdropper from yesterday. They all looked strong, equipped with flashy weapons and all kinds of accessories. Had Riwet not noticed the ambushing group, they would have been utterly surrounded.

Silica hid behind Riwet. "Th-there's too many of them…we should run…!"

"I told you, I got this. Just use that crystal when I tell you, alright?" He replied with a gentle smile. Then, he started walking towards Rosalia and her guild, his expression hardening. "So, you really believe that dying here has no consequence?" He said to Rosalia.

"Yeah, so?" The spear wielder replied.

"So why don't you slit your throat right here, and right now?" he asked, his tone cold. Everybody, including Silica, froze. She couldn't see what kind of facial expression he was making, but his harsh tone made her take half a step back. "You'll be free. Free from SAO. That's what you believe is gonna happen, right?

When Rosalia didn't respond, Riwet opened his mouth. "Yeah, that's what I thought. You damn hypocrite." It was the first time that Silica heard Riwet's voice be so cold.

Rosalia's eyes furrowed as she glared at the glaive wielder. "You don't understand anything! Do you have _any_ idea-"

"No, I don't." Riwet cut her tirade short. "... I've little desire to argue ideologies any further. You've made your case quite clear." He stopped at the center of the bridge. "Let's just get this over with." He urged.

"If you insist." Rosalia smiled evilly, then pointed at him. "KILL HIM!"

"No! Riwet-san!" Silica cried. However strong he may be, there was no way that he could survive being attacked by those nine players.

"Riwet…?" One of the bandits muttered. "Rosalia-san! I've heard of this player! He's a clearer!"

Rosalia panicked for a moment before composing herself. "Good! Think of how much rare items he's got stored in his inventory! Clearer or not, he's only one person!"

The players steeled themselves and readied their weapons.

"Run! Riwet-san…!" Silica desperately shouted, to no avail. Riwet just stood there, not even drawing his weapon.

The nine players activated their weapon skills and hit him consecutively. Riwet crossed his arms in front of him as his body jerked from the attacks. Tears fell from Silica's eyes, screaming at them to stop the carnage.

They actually stopped, but not because of Silica's pleas.

When the eighth player leaped to hit him with a Weapon kill, Riwet countered by kicking him away. Then, he intercepted the ninth player's attack by grabbing the player's sword by the blade and yanking it away from the player's hands.

The players jumped back while Rosalia, who was watching from afar, gaped at the sight.

Riwet threw the sword on the side as he rubbed his hand that caught it. Silica looked at his HP and saw that the damage dealt was _miniscule._ "Strike one. Try again?" He said as he looked at the players that surrounded him.

The players gritted their teeth and continued the assault, but this time, Riwet drew his knife and moved. He danced around their blades, parrying the ones that he couldn't dodge. This lasted for a couple of minutes before the orange players had to back away and catch their breath. Riwet's HP decreased by a sliver.

"Strike two." Riwet snorted. "Sorry, I forgot to activate Battle Healing." He snapped his fingers, and all of the damage he received was healed within a second. "You can try again, but I'll be on the offensive this time." He flicked his finger at the hilt of his glaive.

"W-what!? What the hell?!" One of the orange players shouted.

"My level and stats are high enough that I could shrug off whatever attacks you guys throw at me. Even if I unequip my armor and not move, I doubt that you could kill me. But I'm not crazy enough to do that, and I don't have that much time to waste."

"Is that even possible? How the hell is that fair?!"

"You expect a _Clearer_ , who can tank hits from boss monsters at the front lines, could die from _this_?" Riwet shook his head as he sheathed his knife.

He opened his Player Menu and took out a crystal. It was similar to a Teleport Crystal, but it was larger and had a darker shade of blue. "The Silver Flags' guild leader spent all of his Col to buy this Corridor Crystal. The destination's set to the prison area of the Black Iron Castle. The Army is gonna take it from there. You're all going to be teleported there."

Rosalia smiled confidently. "And what if we don't want to?" She said, thinking that he was bluffing.

"That depends. You'd be surprised of how many limbs a player could lose but still live." He replied. Rosalia's face froze. Riwet chuckled. "Relax, I'm kidding." His smile disappeared. "Or am I? Keep in mind that I haven't just been dumping stat points on defense, and my patience is running out." He explained. "I've also got some knives coated with Paralyzing poison. They're non-lethal and designed to capture weaker monsters, so you could say that I'm using it as intended." He exhaled sharply. "There you have it. If you surrender and walk in, nobody gets hurt. If not, then expected to be hunted like dogs, and _then_ be thrown there."

Rosalia quietly snaked her hand on her hip, drawing out a Teleport Crystal and raising it. Before she could use it, Riwet drew out a Throwing Knife and threw it at her. It hit the crystal and knocked it off her hands, landing on the ground and dissipating into particles.

He looked at Rosalia, and then at the players around him as he raised the crystal high. "Corridor open." The crystal shattered and a portal appeared a few feet behind him. "Of course, you can try to run. You might even get away. I can also pull some strings and have bounty hunters hound you for the rest of your lives. By all means, push your luck and see how far that takes you." He warned, fully drawing his glaive out.

One by one, the players slowly walked into the portal. The only one left was Rosalia, who aimed her spear at Riwet. "You can't force me to go there. If you hurt me, you'll turn orange."

" _By all means, push your luck and see how far that takes you_." he repeated, more forceful this time.

"Tch…" Her face soured as she glared back. "Dammit!" She lowered her spear and quickly went to the portal. However, as she walked past Riwet, she tripped and fell forward on her face. Silica saw that Riwet silently stretched his foot so Rosalia would trip on it. He quickly retracted it as she fell.

In SAO, tripping over something or falling does not damage HP, unless it was over considerable distances, so his cursor didn't turn green. Just like in real life, it was considered rude to purposefully trip a person, but this system was put in place so that other players won't purposefully trip themselves on another person and give that person an orange cursor. However, the player who tripped them _would_ get an orange cursor if the person who fell got severely damaged afterwards from a different source, so as to not encourage players from deliberately tripping others while in the heat of battle.

Rosalia pushed herself up and gave an accusing look at Riwet. "Don't hurt yourself." Riwet snickered.

She gritted her teeth, her face reddening as she reached for her spear. She stopped and eyed him. "Trying to taunt me into hitting you so I'll turn orange? What kind of _idiot_ would-"

"The same kind of _idiot_ who underestimated a Clearer like an _idiot_ , got wrecked like an _idiot_ , got her guild caught like an _idiot_ , gets to go to prison with them like an _idiot_ , and finally tripped and ate pavement like an _idiot_." Riwet sneered, mocking her by mimicking how she said the word.

Rosalia bared her teeth, her early composed attitude gone. "You..!"

Riwet clapped his hands and pointed to the portal. "Come on. Stop wasting my time and go to the portal."

The spear wielder swore under her breath and walked into the portal.

Just like that, the area was quiet. Only the subtle sounds of nature echoed throughout. Riwet put his weapons away and calmed himself down by silently looking at the sky.

Silica was unable to move, her mind wracked with emotion. Within a span of minutes, she was surprised that Rosalia was a criminal, afraid of the nine orange players about hurt them, relieved that they went away…

Riwet turned to face her. "Sorry you had to be in the middle of that." He muttered in a hushed tone as he smiled apologetically as. He composed himself and took a deep breath, but still didn't quite look at her direction. "Let's head back."

 _ *****  
Loading…Complete**_

The sun was setting by the time the two of them arrived at the 35th Floor Teleport Gate. They were quiet during the trip. Silica looked at Riwet. His expression was mostly neutral, but she saw that he was a bit sullen.

They arrived at the Weathercock Pavilion, and they went to the second floor and into Riwet's room.

As soon as Riwet closed the door, he turned to Silica and bowed deeply. "I'm sorry!"

"Wh-what?"

"As you've probably guessed, catching Rosalia was why I was at the 35th Floor...I'm sorry for dragging you into this mess."

Silica shook her head. "It's all right." She replied.

"Really?" He asked.

"Really."

Riwet straightened his head and sighed in relief. He noticed that Silica was staring at him. "...w-what's up?"

Silica had time to think while they were walking. Admittedly, she was a bit frightened by how Riwet dealt with the orange guild. His tone was cold, almost clinical, but also laden with malice towards Rosalia and the Titan's Hand.

Silica shook her head and smiled. "It's nothing." He did what he had to do. And in the end, he was able to intimidate them to surrender. "Now that you're done helping me...will you be leaving…?" She asked.

"Well...I've been out of the front lines for two days, so yeah." He replied.

She sat on his bed and stretched her hands. "The clears are really amazing. I probably could never be one, even if I tried…"

Riwet shook his head. "I wouldn't say that. A lot of us just started early, that's all. I'll be honest. Your level and stat numbers matter a lot. Having 101 HP against a 100 HP attack will make a difference, literally a matter of life and death. But as long as you keep fighting, you'll get there. There are things more important than stats. I'm sorry for this, but you remember yesterday night at the Forest of Wandering, right? The sensation of fighting for your life?"

"Yes…" Silica shivered.

"That's one of the more important things. Having the mental fortitude to withstand that frequently is an important strength not governed by numbers, which is doubly true when fighting the Floor Bosses. Some of the Clearers couldn't take that, and just elected to help by gathering materials for their guilds. Others just push on, and you can see the mental strain in their eyes…" He sighed. "You need to have something to fight for...though I personally don't exactly follow that advice…" He paused before looking at her straight in the eye. "So, can you handle that?" He asked as he gazed intently at her.

Silica thought hard, the question ringing heavily in her mind. A lot of mid-level players get a bad rap of only leveling up to stay in the average range, not bothering to level up high enough to join the Clearers. Admittedly, she was guilty of that, because she thought that that would be enough.

Until recently. Wherever you are, whatever level you might have, bad things will happen to you. Either by unfair circumstances or by your own hubris. Riwet saved her from a tragic end that she had brought upon herself. He was strong, and she desired to be as powerful as him. She vowed to be strong enough to protect herself and the ones she cared about, just like how he protected her.

She silently looked at him, and matched his gaze with the most determined one she could muster. She couldn't confidently say yes, since she still couldn't fathom being able to handle the constant fear of death. But if he assumed that she would just lie back out of danger and be at the mercy of SAO's whims, then he should damn well think otherwise.

His eyes widened for a split second, and his gaze softened before he looked away. "Sorry, got too serious there. I was about to wave it off and tell you that you don't have to answer right away, but then I saw the look on your eyes." He looked back at her with a friendly smile, and her gaze also softened. "That's a good look on your eyes. If you're hesitant about frequently brushing with death, don't worry too much about it. There's more than one way to help the frontlines. Just take your time, learn from both your successes and mistakes, and don't end up doing the things Rosalia and her guild did." He concluded.

Silica nodded, and he smiled. "Alright, enough of this serious talk. Let's revive Pina." He suggested.

"Okay!" Silica took out Pina's Heart and the Pneuma Flower. After carefully reading the instructions, she placed Pina's Heart on the table and tilted the flower towards it. A single droplet slid away from the flower's center, and she carefully let it drop into Pina's Heart.

After a flash of light, Pina appeared, fully resurrected. Silica observed her friend silently. She was fast asleep, her tail curled up and her wings drooped on itself as her chest rose and fell slightly.

She was overjoyed, almost believing that all of this was a dream. But it wasn't. As if in a trance, she walked over and caressed Pina's body. The dragon unconsciously purred. She stared at Pina's sky blue feathers and smiled. She really did it. They saved Pina.

She turned around and looked at Riwet. "Riwet-san, meet Pina." She introduced it.

Riwet came closer. "Oh wow. Haven't really faced them a lot before. Is it purring?" Silica nodded. "Man, it's like a cat with wings." He remarked.

Silica giggled. "Do you like cats, Riwet-san?"

"Yup. I plan to own one someday."

They made small talk for a few minutes. During that time, Pina had woken up and climbed onto Silica's shoulder, eyeing Riwet curiously. Riwet stretched his hand to try and pet her, and Pina stretched her tiny paws and touched his fingers. The two players giggled at the interaction

Eventually, the sun fell fully, and darkness overcame the 35th Floor. "Oops. Hang on for a second." Riwet said as he opened his Player Menu and sent a quick message. "I forgot to tell the leader of the Silver Flags that the deed's done." He rubbed his stomach. "I guess I should have dinner first before I go."

"I'll come with you." Silica spoke.

As they walked downwards and ate, Riwet opened his mouth. "Hey, Silica…"

"What is it, Riwet-san?" She asked.

"You can just call me Riwet. And, if it's okay with you…" He trailed off after sending her a friend invite.

She smiled and accepted. "Of course it's okay, Riwet-sa...Riwet."

"Awesome. Also, if you ever need any help, send a message my way, and I'll see what I can do, okay?"

She nodded, and they both continued eating.

 _ *****  
Chapter End  
*****_

 **A/N:** _~13,000 words not counting the Author Notes._ Just in time for the 1-year anniversary. Whooowee.I was tempted to split this into two chapters, but screw it. To those wondering, the average word count for each chapter is ~5,300 words before factoring chapter 14 and ~5,800 words after. I feel that ~3000 words are the minimum word count for a chapter (chapter 1 and 2 are around that range) and ~6000-7000 word chapters is what I think is my sweet spot, though I don't really get fatigued until ~8000 words. Numbers, amirite?

While we're here, some stats from you. Within a year, A Worthwhile Endeavor has been viewed by ~3100 people in total, in the favorites list of 18 people, and in the story alert list of 25 people. Thank you very much to all of you!

Other chapters _might_ get the same treatment, but it depends. This took quite a bit out of me, and I was fortunate enough that Silica's debut chapter coincided with me getting free time. My schedule's gonna normalize soon, so the standard length and 30 day average is going to take effect for the next ones. Nevertheless, I'll see what I can do once the time comes.

In other news, did you like the _**cheese**_ I made? The **head pats** , the **blushing** , and the **cheerful smiling**? Yeah. It's...a thing. All in all, I love the way this chapter turned out, from Silica tearing that Drunk Ape apart, to Riwet tripping Rosalia.

I apologize to the LN readers if I repeated some stuff that you already know, but some of the stuff were either omitted or only glossed over by the anime adaptation.

Lastly. I'll have to axe posting Riwet's possible death scenes for now. Hear me out for a sec. I started writing it, but it's not turning out like I hoped. I feel like I'm just mocking common Mary Sue traits and tropes by playing it up. And if I'm _not_ playing it up, it's just bland and not fun to read.

Don't worry though. I still keep his possible deaths list in a notepad file. I just write a short snippet when a scene comes to mind. Here are some examples:

-Chapter 3 - Riwet dies to the Dire Wolves.

-Chapter 5 - Riwet dies to Illfang. No one remembers him.

-Chapter 9 - Riwet dies to Sobek while almost getting Kirito and Asuna killed.

-Chapter 13 - (This one was the one I was working on. I wasn't satisfied with the result, so I need to tweak it quite a bit. I'll probably be able to post it relatively soon, but don't expect much.)

I might work on them someday, but honestly, I'd rather just use the time to polish the actual chapters.

That's all for now. Thank you very much, and have a good one.


	15. CH 15 - 2024 Q1

Chapter 15 - 2024 Q1

 _48th Floor  
_ _March 4, 2024_

"Aaaaaand, that'll do it! Here's your sword, repaired and upgraded." The blacksmith said, handing the sword back to Sefton.

Sefton smiled back and opened his Player Menu. He checked the stats on his One-Handed Sword that he had just got back. Satisfied, he gave the blacksmith payment for the work. "Great job as always, though I should probably get something stronger soon, right?" He asked.

"Yup." The blacksmith replied. "I'd say that it'll last for about a month or two."

"Hmm. Well...time to start saving up for that moment, I suppose." He pondered. He looked at the inside of the blacksmith's shop. "Nice place you've got." He remarked. "Didn't really know what to expect when you said that you're quitting on being a mobile blacksmith and set up shop on the 48th Floor."

"Well, it didn't cheap out on the price tag, so it better." The blacksmith replied. "But I knew from the moment I laid eyes on it that I need to have it. I mean, did you see the water wheel outside?! I had to work nonstop for this."

Sefton took a moment to look at the blacksmith. He could see that her expression was drooping ever so slightly. "Well, try not to push yourself too much." He suggested.

"I could say the same about you." She shot back. Well, she wasn't wrong.

Sefton shrugged. "I can handle it." He smiled confidently. He had known her and bought from her for a long time now, sometime during April of last year. Before she settled on this Floor, she would roam and vend on different Floors. Either it was pure coincidence or her Smithing Skill level was progressing at about the same rate the Cats' average player level, but he would frequently meet her in the living areas close to wherever the Moonlit Black Cats just so happened to train at that point in time. And because of that, Sefton was a rather frequent customer. Over the months, she had become his go-to blacksmith, from taking his equipment for repairs and upgrades to buying all kinds of equipment.

Sefton took a moment to check the time. "Well, I guess I should get going now."

"Alright. I'll see you later. As always, I'll give you a discount if you advertise." She grinned. She didn't really spend much time or Col on advertising, mostly just relying on referrals and word of mouth. She preferred to let the quality of her work talk instead, and from what Sefton could tell, business was growing. Her recently dyed pink hair wardrobe change from typical blacksmith attire to a red frilly uniform similar to a waitress also brought in more customers. She explained that one of her friends suggested it. She replied that she should mind her business, but since sales doubled and customer feedback was positive, she had no choice but to wear it. Sefton had to agree that it suited her.

He waved his hand goodbye and exited the shop. As he walked towards the Teleport Gate, he noticed that he walked past two female players wearing KoB uniforms.

That's right. He took a deep breath as he rejoined the rest of the Moonlit Black Cats for a day of training. Tomorrow's the day.

 _ *******_  
 _ **Loading...Complete**_  
 _ **Changing Perspective: Riwet**_  
 _ *******_

 _56th Floor_

"Good morning, Wilhelm-san." I greeted the KoB officer as I approached him.

"Ah, there you are!" He greeted back with a wide smile.

"You wanted to talk?" I asked.

"I do. Have a seat first and we'll talk about it." Wilhelm gestured to the seat beside him as he ordered a glass of wine and a bowl of noodles. We were currently inside a restaurant that was famous for its noodles. I myself hadn't really got a chance to try it out yet.

I sat and ordered a cup of green tea. "So, how are you holding up?" I asked.

"A bit disappointed. It's been almost a year since I left the Army, and all I've heard about it since is just...sad." He sighed. "Well, other than that, nothing really too exciting these days. What about you?"

"Had a little something this last month, but yeah, same as you…" I took a sip of my tea. "So...what did you want to talk about?"

"Hmm…" Wilhelm took a sip of his drink. "...except for boss raids, you haven't partied with KoB members ever since that incident in June." He pointed out.

"...no, I haven't." I replied cautiously. I narrowed my eyes as I unconsciously recalled the stuff that happened. It was visceral, but distant, like it happened so long ago. I shook my head slightly as I cleared my thoughts.

"We want your help." Wilhelm started. "We're cooperating with a small guild that entered the front lines recently. The KoB will be formally welcoming them, as well as helping them acquire better equipment. We're going to clear out a section of the 55th Floor Labyrinth tomorrow morning. Nairi and I will be there, but I thought about getting another pair of hands. Are you in?" He asked.

I inhaled sharply. Wilhelm...and Nairi. Last time it ended in disaster. "...If you're fine with me, then...alright." I answered. It's been nine months ago. We're also not treading on new ground, and can prepare accordingly.

An NPC waiter came by, serving Wilhelm with the food he ordered. "All right. I'll let them know...after I eat this." He chuckled.

Wow. Those noodles look so good. Well, since I'm here, I guess I'll just order something myself. "Mind if I join you?" I asked.

"Go ahead." He replied. "I haven't really gotten the chance to talk to you."

We spent a few minutes eating while having small talk. Sounds like he really was doing well.

Since the atmosphere was light, I could probably ask him something a bit more personal. I mean, I was really curious. If he said that I should mind my own business then I'll do just that. I steeled myself and opened my mouth. "So, I really wanna know, Mr. Wilhelm," I asked in English. "What's a middle-aged foreigner looking guy doing in SAO?"

Wilhelm stopped and grinned. "Oh, you speak English. Now I'm even more interested in you." He replied in English with a distinct...British accent?

"I mean...I'll tell you my story, if you want."

"Let's hear your story first." He urged.

I shrugged. "Long story, but most of it's not really that interesting." I said as I finished my tea and ordered for more. "Japanese dad, Canadian mother. They met when my dad came to Canada for work. Born there and lived there for 10 years. Then, my dad got a job back in Japan, so moved back here. 5 years later, saw an ad for SAO. That's basically it." I concluded.

"Wow...and you and your mum just went along with it?" He asked.

"My mom's pretty adventurous, so she couldn't pass that up." I replied. Memories of my parents and my sister started to pop up. Don't worry, guys. We're working on it. "As for me, well...yeah. I still keep in touch with my friends, though." It helps that I don't have that many friends. "So, how about you?"

"Well, I guess I'm just big into video games. Flew from the other side of the world into Japan, bought a nice house, and strapped in."

"Wait, you did all of that for a video game? There's being 'big into video games', and then there's that." I blurted incredulously.

"Had a pretty money filled life." He made a cheeky smile. "Long story short, let's just say that I have literally too much money to care."

I scowled. "Show-off." I grumbled.

"Wahahah!" He laughed. "Well, seriously though, it was my wife that introduced me to video games. I was scouting SAO out for her to see if we could play together. Thank Christ she didn't log in with me to experience this load of rubbish."

"Your wife sounds like a pretty cool person." I remarked.

"Yup. The most beautiful woman I've ever met. She's the reason why I enjoy life and don't have that much gray in my hair." He said, his voice nostalgic. "I was a couple of years older than you when I met her. I was a right bastard back then, only concerned with moving up in the world. Make as much money as I can. Nothing else mattered."

"Then I met her. At first, I didn't really care for her, but she slowly changed the way I view life. We got married a few years afterward, and eventually got a kid. My daughter's around your age right now." He sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. I didn't have to ask if he missed them. It was so obvious. "It's been a rough ride, but I wouldn't have it any other way…"

I shook my head. "Hey, hey. It's way too soon to be all sentimental and stuff. We're already past the halfway point, and if we keep the pace, we'll get out of this in a year."

"...you're right." Wilhelm smiled softly. "I don't really understand the reason why talking about the real world is considered taboo…"

I shrugged. From what I've heard, if you talk about real life, you'll rationalize that SAO is fake and that dying here doesn't really kill you. "I agree that talking about the real world would just dredge up feelings of longing, but it's not bad to reminisce once in a while, right?" I replied. Wilhelm agreed.

We spent a couple more minutes making small talk and eating noodles. He's really a cool guy. A lot of times, I just want to hear people older than me rant about stuff.

After finally finishing my meal, I stood up and sighed contentedly. The noodles tasted as good as they looked. "Well, I should be going now. I'll be seeing you tomorrow, Wilhelm-san." I said, reverting back to Japanese.

He nodded. "Alright. Take care of yourself."

 _ *******_  
 _ **Loading...Complete**_  
 _ *******_

 _55th Floor_

"Good morning Nairi-san." I greeted.

"Good morning, Riwet-san…" She greeted back.

I arrived at the designated meeting point 10 minutes early. The meeting point was a safe zone outside the Labyrinth entrance. Aside from Nairi and I, nobody else was there yet.

I sat down on a nearby rock. "Where's Wilhelm-san?"

"He's with the others, helping them with some last-minute preparations." She explained.

We silently spent the next few minutes in silence. I opened my Player Menu and sorted some stuff. When I got bored of that, I finally spoke up. "How have you been doing?" I asked awkwardly.

"I'm doing well." Was her brief reply. "How about you?"

"Same." I closed my Player Menu and looked at her when she was looking away. She wore the same KoB uniform, but she had slightly more robust armor compared to the last time I saw her. She was still rocking her usual hairstyle, a simple symmetrical medium bob cut with her bangs cut and held to the side by a hairclip.

I breathed sharply. "So...you're okay with being in a party with me?" I finally asked.

Nairi turned to look at me. Our eyes met for a second before I looked away. "...yes." She nodded. "I...admit that it's a bit unnerving...but…" She brought both of her hands near her face and looked at them. "We've grown stronger ever since that day, right? I...want to prove to myself...that I'm not the weakling from eight months ago." She declared as she clenched her hands into fists. "Everyone told me that it wasn't my fault, but it still ate at me. I'm tired of blaming myself for their deaths."

I smiled at her. "I understand the feeling." I understood, but not completely relate. Sure, I had blamed my weakness, but it didn't haunt me for long. Its effect just silently dissipated over time, and just left me with a small scar. I came to terms with that the moment I saved Kirito and let him have the revival item. This little excursion meant a lot less to me than it did to Nairi.

I don't know if I should or shouldn't be thinking this way, but the least I could do is be honest with myself.

After a few more minutes, Wilhelm arrived, accompanied by the guild. My eyes widened as I recognized one of them. "Sefton-san?"

"Riwet-san?" Sefton replied, equally as surprised. He ran towards me. "Wow, it's been a while!"

"Yup." I replied.

"You know him, Sefton?" The female spear wielder asked.

"From way back." He replied with a nostalgic tone.

"Alright, let me handle the introductions." Wilhelm started. "These players are the only members of the guild called the Moonlit Black Cats." He pointed to each member. "This is Keita, Sefton, Sachi, Tetsuo, and Sasamaru." He then pointed to us. "As you already know, my name is Wilhelm of the Knights of Blood, and joining me is my guildmate Nairi, and longtime affiliate Solo Player Riwet."

Keita stepped forward and bowed. "It is an honor to meet you. I hope we get along well."

I bowed back. Two tanks, three DPSs, and one hybrid. Pretty balanced team, if I do say so myself.

"We'll be cleaning out the first couple of levels in this Labyrinth. The five of you will take most of the materials to craft yourselves some top-tier equipment." Wilhelm grinned. "I wouldn't worry too much about it. You've climbed into the front lines. You'll take care of this easily." All five of them nodded attentively. Wilhelm looked at his clock. "We'll leave at 9am, so we have a bit of time."

Nairi and I approached them. Might as well get to know them better. She struck up a conversation with Sachi while I walked closer to Sefton. "Hey. Welcome to the frontlines." I said to him.

"Thank you." He replied with a proud smile. It was great seeing that he was doing well.

Another player, Sasamaru, wrapped his arms around Sefton's neck. The others also came closer. I got a basic read of their group dynamic. They seemed pretty easy-going and closely knit.

"Alright. That's that. Let's move out." Wilhelm declared.

We nodded and grouped up, entering the Labyrinth side by side.

We stood on guard as we walked. Nothing really much to say about the interior design, but simplicity has its charm.

"Here they come." Wilhelm said as he raised his shield.

 _ *******_  
 _ **Loading...Complete**_  
 _ *******_

"All right! And we're done!" Wilhelm happily announced as we exited the Labyrinth and rested back on the safezone.

All members of the Cats cheered. Wilhelm chatted with Keita and jovially praised his tactics.

I just put my hands into my pockets and stared at the sky.

Don't get me wrong. They're all great people. But it really felt like business as usual. They're doing all right on their own, and as long as they keep on doing that, they'll be set.

As for the KoB, I had thought about it, and I accepted my rationale. I will still help them, but I probably won't ever join as a guild member.

I sensed someone approaching me from behind. " Something on your mind?" Sefton asked.

I turned around and smiled. "Oh, you know...just letting my thoughts run…" I trailed off.

His eyes narrowed, picking something up from my tone. "That sounds...vaguely unpleasant." Yes. Yes, it is. "Care for a distraction?" He said as he opened his Menu, took out two cups of tea, and handed me one.

I nodded and took the cup as I sat on the grass. "Thanks." I smiled at him. Sefton smiled back and sat near me.

I breathed heavily before opening my mouth to speak. "...first off, I'm sorry for not being in frequent contact with you." I apologized.

Sefton shook his head. "No, it's fine."

I looked around before continuing, making sure that nobody else was close enough to hear my reply "...We were face to face when he announced the...death game. I was worried that...talking with you would dredge up memories of that day."

"Hmm…" He hummed as he pondered. "I guess that I would've had that reaction if you contacted me within the first few weeks. But then I met them." He looked over to his guild. "If it hadn't been for them, I would've rotted to death in the 1st Floor."

"I see...well, I guess I was worrying for nothing, Sefton-san."

"...Hey, Riwet-san?"

"What's up?"

"Let's drop the honorifics, shall we?"

"You first."

"Sure." Sefton said as he took a sip from his cup. "So, how about you, Riwet? Surely you've got some stories to tell?" The Cats heard that part of our conversation and came closer.

I shrugged. "Sure, I've got some stories. I'll tell...some, but I prefer to keep the others to myself. Sounds good?"

He grinned. "Lay it on me."

Wilhelm put his hands on his waist. "Heh, if it's stories you want, I've got lots of those!" He laughed.

"Um, Wilhelm-san? We're supposed to report back to HQ once we're done." Nairi pointed out.

"Well...we're not really done yet, are we?" Wilhelm rebuked. He then turned to the Cats. "Technically, I could explain it by further building relationships between the KoB and MBC. Come on, I know a good restaurant on this floor."

Nairi sighed and smiled as she conceded.

All of us headed for the restaurant and ate food while we exchanged stories. Yeah, Sefton found himself a good team. They were pretty closely knit, and weren't really interested in recruiting new members. The Moonlit Black Cats would most likely be an affiliate guild to one of the major guilds, most likely KoB.

Small scale guilds aren't really that uncommon in SAO, including the frontlines. They would coordinate with the major guilds or a couple more small scale guilds in hunting event monsters, documenting the areas, etc. etc., but they still remain independent.

However, they also have their disadvantages. Since they're small, all the members would need to keep up with the frontlines. They would have little room to slack off before they get left behind. Also, excluding rare circumstances, they would almost always play a supporting role to the large guilds during boss raids. At the end of the day, they'll only have each other to rely on for most of their shared adventures.

"...and then Asuna glared at Riwet. You should've seen the look on their faces. One was shrinking back, one could burn holes." Wilhelm guffawed. The others chuckled with him.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, guys. I had it all under control, you know!" I adamantly replied.

"What part of being Missing in Action for three days all under control?" Sefton asked incredulously.

"It's better than chewing out a player who completed the map data of 5 levels of the 40th Floor Labyrinth by his lonesome. I just...you know...wanted to get stuff done!" I rebuked. I turned my head and looked at the Cats. "You guys understand, right?...right?" They all shook their heads. "Hmph!" I sulked for a bit, then shrugged my shoulders. "Well, I guess I could count myself lucky that Asuna went easy with the sermon." It was back when I was training myself to be strong enough to fight Nicholas solo. I got...pretty enthusiastic, to say the least.

We spent some more time talking before dispersing.

Well, that was fun.

 ** _***_**  
 ** _Loading….Complete_**  
 ** _***_**

 _50th Floor_

Ahh. Nothing really beats topping off a productive day with a bit of nighttime hunting. The 50th Floor. A really nasty Floor filled with pretty powerful monsters, but not much traps.

In fact, a monster's on their way to skewering me right now. Of course, I did the sensible thing and dodged out of the way.

It was called Tenebris The Obsidian Knight. It was humanoid and a bit large, easily over eight feet tall and fully covered by a robust, pitch black plate armor with a light gray outline. The armor was engraved with exotic designs, and its helmet vaguely resembled an insect of some sorts. It was equipped with a One Handed Longsword and Kite Shield, both of their colors in tandem with its armor.

Its appearance was almost heroic, but that disappeared as it turned to face me. Its red eyes glowed ominously from its eye sockets and it was exuding a deathly dark aura. It raised its sword and briefly pointed its sword towards me before brandishing it to its side as it menacingly strolled forward.

I've heard that this guy's supposed to be a wandering Field Miniboss, but it's my first time fighting it. Well, it's probably safe to assume that this bastard's all set on killing the shit out of me until I die of death.

Alright. Let's dance.

 _ *******_  
 _ **Cue Music: Mega Drive - I Am The Program (** **Perturbator** **Mix)**_  
 _ *******_

The knight started to run towards me, its sword raised for an overhead slash. I darted to the side, employing a passive playstyle to get a feel of its movement and attack pattern. Hmm...it appears to employ strong and straightforward attacks but also mixes it up with feints, sudden lunges, and aggressive combos. Its movements were smooth and lithe, too smooth for someone with that much armor. However, I observed that some of its attacks had noticeable endlag. Openings if I ever saw one.

A few moments later, I tried making quick, noncommittal attacks to test its defense. It raised its shield to block my attacks, and the few hits I got didn't decrease its HP by much. An effective movement pattern coupled with solid defenses. Let's tackle this one slow and steady, shall we?

At first, it was going well. I didn't get the chance to really hit it, but I was getting more and more comfortable with its attack pattern. However, it then decided that it didn't want me doing that. Its red eyes shined even brighter and its aura became more intense.

I stifled a curse as its attacks became quicker and more aggressive. I barely avoided a lunging stab, the blade of its sword grazing my right shoulder. He ain't messin' around.

Gritting my teeth, I retaliated with a Linear. It didn't have the time to guard, but I sort of just wildly activated the Weapon Skill, so it was barely a hit on the side of its torso. The knight was pushed back by the impact. While it still had a ton of HP left, its eyes dimmed and aura diminished.

I spent a few more minutes trading blows with the knight. From what I've gathered, it periodically buffs itself, evidenced by the eyes and aura, getting stronger and faster the longer the buff remains active. The only way to disable the buff is to deal a certain amount of damage to it, thus resetting it back. Well, easier said than done.

When it lunged for another slice, I stepped forward to dodge the blow and closed the distance. I gritted my teeth and activated a Martial Arts Skill, Rending Crusher. My right hand closed into a fist and shot out, slamming it into its torso. The Skill amplified the impact enough that the knight was slammed into the ground, stunned. This Skill had short range and wasn't terribly damaging, but it could topple and stun most enemies around the size of the Obsidian Knight, and staggers anything larger. It was the Martial Arts equivalent of Cleaving Blitz, but shorter in range and damage, and half the endlag.

As it was knocked on the ground, I laid into it hard. I backed away once it started getting up and I drank a potion to replenish my HP alongside Battle Healing. I managed to shave its first HP down to a third, but I need to keep my eyes peeled for more surprises. Sure enough, when it buffed itself the next time, it was stronger from the get go.

I still employed my tactic of patiently waiting for an opening while trying not to get too damaged. I dodged and parried its slashes and stabs, and moved in to counter with swift and decisive blows.

As soon as I depleted his first HP bar, things started heating up more. Its red eyes turned a shade darker, and its aura became thicker. I cracked the armor on its right torso and saw that nothing was inside. The armor was moving on its own.

The knight threw its shield to the side and held its sword with both hands as it started walking towards me. I couldn't stop myself from grinning slightly. This is gonna be good. I exhaled and steeled myself, only for my eyes to widen as it rushed to me with blinding speed.

Shit. While I've seen and fought faster enemies and this bastard can't hold a candle to Asuna, those ones employed overwhelming speed as their primary attack. I didn't expect a fully armored knight that already hits like a truck to suddenly be that fast.

I jumped back and tried to dodge, but since I was caught off guard by its speed, I took a diagonal cut straight on the chest. My armor mitigated some of the damage, but it still shaved off a fifth of my health, just like that. Worse, I didn't land very well, so the impact of the blow knocked me down on my back.

I sat up and tried to look for the knight, and I only got a glimpse of it as it jumped high into the air. I rolled to the side to dodge its plunging attack, its sword going through the ground I was just lying on. Alright. Fuck it. You're going down.

As soon as I got up, I fed it a Pale Derision. I adopted a more aggressive playstyle, blocking and parrying its attacks and countering with my own. The bastard's strong, but so am I. Damage marks started to litter both of our armor, but I had the upper hand.

I trusted my instincts, honed by almost two years of fierce combat. I barely dodged a lunging strike and countered with a Weapon Skill. The knight swung its sword and grazed my cheek. I took off a chunk of its helmet. It made a diagonal slash and cut my right hand off, and I retaliated by destroying its right arm. A relentless exchange of swings and stabs. Sparks flew from metal clashing with metal.

I took in the sensation of combat, and let it course through my body. I could feel my face unconsciously smiling, and made no effort to stifle it. This, this is why I'm here. I have made peace in the fact that I crave battle. Sure, I fight because I want out of SAO, and sure, I want to protect the few friends that I have. But at the end of the day, killing monsters is why I get up in the morning. Hell, it's what keeps me up and at it even when the sun's down.

I'm a freak. And I'm okay with that.

I backed away when I knocked it down, its final HP bar down to 15% while mine was around 50%. I quickly used a Healing Crystal and steeled myself for a final clash. Even though I've damaged it, its self buff didn't weaken, with its red eyes boring through me and its malevolent aura spilling to the environment.

The Obsidian Knight's threatening visage intimidated me when I first laid eyes on it, but now it didn't affect me in the slightest. As soon as it started walking towards me, I also started walking towards it. The Knight lunged at me again with overwhelming speed, but this time I was ready for it. While its speed hadn't decreased, I could clearly see it move. It caught me off guard once, and once is one time too many.

I met with it halfway, our blades colliding and straining under the strength of our swings. Its combat ability drastically increased once again, and I found my HP decreasing at an alarming rate. But I didn't flee. Instead, I matched its ferocity with my own, slashing and stabbing at it like a madman.

When the Obisidian Knight's HP was almost depleted, it hung its head upward and roared. Its roar was alien, yet animalistic, like a distorted, high-pitched gust of wind. With one last desperate move, it heaved its sword and stabbed at me. I parried with my glaive, but I was only able to slightly deflect it. It dug into my right shoulder, the tip of its sword protruding behind me.

And yet, I weathered the blow. My HP's too low for comfort, but the knight was unarmed, now in both meanings of the word.

Too. Fucking. Bad.

Exhaling sharply, I delivered a hefty kick to its side. As it staggered back, I let loose a final Pale Derision, carving an X into the knight.

 _ *******_  
 _ **End Music**_  
 _ *******_

Tenebris's eyes dimmed, and its malevolent aura dissipated. Then, its body was sliced off into four pieces and fell to the ground before disintegrating into particles.

Man, good fight. That got my blood pumping! Prying the sword off my body, I spent a few minutes catching my breath and calming myself down. Aside from a buttload of EXP and Col, the only other reward I got was its sword that I was holding. Guess I wasn't lucky enough to get its armor to drop. Then again, it was animated armor. Probably shouldn't wear it.

I gave the sword a little swish before I inspected it more thoroughly. Unlike the Obsidian Knight's ornate armor, this was simple in design, with all of its components colored pitch black and outlined with light gray. It was a bit long and heavy compared to an average Longsword, but my glaive was still a bit longer. I opened my Menu and looked at its ID and stats more thoroughly.

Sure enough, its stats were powerful. Adding that to its no-nonsense design that felt comfortable in my hand, and it almost made me jealous of Longsword users. Well, almost. I've fought tooth and nail with One Handed Glaives so much that handling it went well beyond comfortable. It felt like an extension of my body. The sword also told that I didn't meet the minimum requirements to wield this sword. Snobby little thing.

Elucidator. I've heard of that name, but from where…? Ooohh. Now that I think about it, this was the sword Argo was gushing about a few weeks ago. Heard it was a very rare drop, with an emphasis on very. From what I've heard from her, it was a weapon that was powerful enough to be viable all the way to the 100th Floor.

Well, at least it'll make some else very happy, and me drowning in Col. I stored it in my inventory, stretched my limbs, and went on with my business.

I checked the time. 1am. I could go on for a bit longer, but I should pack it up and go.

When I was close to the exit, more enemies came hurtling in front of me. This time, only small fry monsters that I could dispatch with relative ease. Well, an hour or two wouldn't hurt, right?

…

I didn't get out of that area until it was 3am. Time well spent, I guess.

Even though I only had 4 hours of sleep afterward, I woke up pleasantly refreshed. Feeling a bit contemplative, I stood by my window as I stretched my limbs.

Aside from a handful of people, I don't really feel any strong attachment to anybody. I get along with most people, and that's about it. I only have a few people that I could really call "friends", and a big part of me prefers it that way. I work alone because I don't wanna be saddled by any drama or tension between guilds. I do what I'm told and speak when spoken to because it doesn't make any waves. I've helped individual players because at those times, it was convenient for me, and I didn't have anything better to do other than reassuring myself that I'm a good guy, and I enjoy the satisfaction of bringing down people who I think are evil and deserving.

However, I have my limits. The Clearers lose absolutely nothing when they leave me alone to my devices. We're all sharing the same goals, and I always make it a point to do what is asked of me and be as polite as I could when I'm with company.

Ever since I stepped out of the Starting City, I've been growing stronger by myself and for myself. The Fuurinkazan was strong enough that they would've been fine without my contributions, and I'm not full of myself to think that the whole clearing effort of SAO's floors resides on my existence. I'm just a cog in the machine, probably even an expendable one at that.

And yet, at the end of the day, I don't care much for any of it. I still have my stories to tell even though I probably wouldn't tell it to anybody, but hey, good enough for me.

I gave my limbs one final stretch before I equipped my weapons and armor and headed out to the front lines once again.

 _ *******_  
 _ **Chapter End**_  
 _ *******_

 **A/N** : Thank you very much to the users Kancolle Haruna-chan and AMazing for giving their thoughts on this little fic of mine. To Haruna-chan, I am glad that you like the conversations between Silica and Riwet. Can't say that I know much of KanColle, but I've heard of Haruna, and I think she's pretty awesome.

Side note - Since AWE is approaching 100k words, should I stop calling it little…? Nah. 200k words and I'll think about it again.

Anyways, I would very much like having a TVTropes page, but not right now. Maybe when I'm done with the SAO arc at the very least. I spend a looot of time on that website learning about various tropes that I should use or avoid, taking up notes as to how to avoid a Mary Sue, and just spending hours just clicking random tropes and links and seeing where that takes me. In fact, that was how I found "The Hill of Swords", and by extension, this website in the first place. Here's a Shout Out to TVTropes and all the lovely people there. Keep up the fine work!

This chapter ended up pretty alright. I got a chance to give additional characterization to my OCs, and also practice on writing fight scenes. Nairi didn't get as much screentime as my other OCs, but no need to rush.

In regards to the fight scene, I think what makes this scene different from previous ones is that it's one on one, and the fight itself is the sole focus. The fight against the Dire Wolves was Riwet's first fight within the death game, the fight against Illfang was a 45-player raid that decided the Clearers' future, so on and so forth. This was a 'side quest' of sorts. Maybe not even that important. Just a night in the life of Riwet.

Also, don't worry about Riwet having the Elucidator. Canonically, Kirito already had his back in January 2024. Also, nobody ever said that only one Elucidator exists in SAO. In addition to the above reasons, I also just wanted to write my headcanon on how Elucidators are obtained. So yeah, if this Elucidator ends up playing a major part, it'll be in another person's hand. When would that be? Soon.

Other than that, I'll skip the Murder in Aincrad part because that'll really only involve Kirito and Asuna, who stayed relatively in character, so the outcome wouldn't really change and I don't really want to add anything to it. We all know what happens. They solve a mystery and Asuna came to truly like Kirito.

That's all for now. Thank you very much, and have a good one.


	16. Supplemental 1

**A Worthwhile Endeavor Opening 1**

Cue Music: LiSA - Crossing Field (Sword Art Online Opening 1)

 _ **(Intro)***_ As the music swells, a whole wall of changing letters and numbers appear. In the center, the letters change to spell out Sword Art Online as it transitions to the show's logo.

 _ **Mitomete ita okubyou na kako**_ ***** The scene shows a bird's eye view of Kirito and Asuna briskly walking side by side, a determined expression on their faces.

 _ **Wakaranai mama ni***_ The scene cuts to Kirito as players turn their backs towards him, and Asuna looking forlorn as she sits on her bed and covers herself with a blanket.

 _ **Kowagatte ita ushiro no jibun ga***_ The scene shows Silica talking with Riwet as they sit on a chair in Floria while Pina is perched on her head. Silica is cheerfully chatting with Riwet and he is listening to her with a soft smile on his face.

 _ **Genjitsu wo ima ni***_ The scene cuts to Silica with her back towards the frame and Pina hovering near her as she is surrounded by Drunk Apes.

 _ **Utsusu***_ The scene transitions to Riwet with his glaive on his hands. His back is to the frame and he is surrounded by fallen players and weapons.

 _I_ _ **kutsu mono sora wo***_ The scene shows the blue virtual sky. One after another, familiar hands reach upward towards it.

 _ **Kaita***_ The sky turns red and the hands wince back.

 _ **Koko wa kitto***_ The plaza of the Starting City is shown, with all the players gathered there and the setting sun bathes the area with a sinister blood-red hue.

 _ **Hakanai kokoro***_ The plaza's appearance deteriorates into a wireframe graphic and caves downwards, making the players fall.

 _ **Midashite***_ Amidst the falling players, Riwet is shown with a terrified look on his face as he falls. As the music builds up, a flash of light appears.

 _ **Yume de takaku tonda karada wa***_ The flash of light changes Riwet's falling avatar which is wearing the starting equipment, to Riwet with his armor and Cobalt Coat as he plunges his glaive into a monster. Kirito leaps into frame, swiftly dispatching three monsters.

 _ **Donna fuan matotte mo furiharatte iku***_ The Gleameyes is shown trading blows with both Riwet and Kirito. Both of their weapons glow, and they simultaneously unleash their weapon skills on Gleameyes. However, Gleameyes activates an overhead Skill and their attacks do not cancel it.

 _ **Nemuru chiisana omoi hirogari dashite***_ From behind the two, Asuna and Silica rush towards Gleameyes as Kirito and Riwet dodge the attack and the sword ends up slamming into the ground. Asuna and Silica run up the sword and jump high in the air. While mid-air, Both Asuna and Silica unleash a flurry of stabs.

 _ **Kizuku yowai watashi kimi ga ireba***_ A series of scenes are shown in quick succession - Argo grinning and giving a thumbs up, Sefton and Lizbeth smiling as they turn to face the frame, Sachi looking up and smiling, and finally a mysterious looking young girl wearing a one-piece dress curling up and hugging her knees as she is surrounded by virtual monitors.

 _ **Kurai sekai tsuyoku***_ Kirito, alone, looks at the distance.

 _ **Ireta***_ A series of scenes are shown in quick succession - Klein giving a thumbs up, Egil folding his arms, Wilhelm and Nairi smiling, and then finally Heathcliff smiling confidently as he holds his unique sword and shield weapon.

 _ **Nagai yume miru kokoro wa sou***_ Kirito, Asuna, and Silica are shown slowly opening their eyes. Riwet's face is the last as he smiles slightly.

 _ **Eien de***_ The scene cuts back to the fight against Gleameyes in a wide shot. Kirito, Asuna, Riwet, and Silica simultaneously sheathe their weapons as Gleameyes explodes.

 _ **I wanna always be with you, I'll give you everything I have***_ The scene shows to Asuna and Kirito eating food at Asuna's house. It then cuts to Riwet and Silica on a grassy plain. Pina is perched on Riwet's face as he stumbles around, with Silica giggling at them.

 _ **(End Music)***_ The final shot is the Kirito's sword Elucidator and Asuna's rapier Lambent Light plunged into the ground forming an X amidst a sunset backdrop. Not far away, Silica's Ebon Dagger and Riwet's (not yet named) Glaive placed in a similar manner.

 _ *****  
End  
*****_

 **Chapter 13 Bad End - Gotta Get a Grip**

 _(Continue from the first Scene Break)_

"We're nearing the dungeon entrance." Asuna announced. "Tell me if you find a trace of the party." She ordered before activating her on Scanning skill. It had been an hour and a half since Nairi last contacted them. Asuna was only able to contact two other people who were free to go with her. The sun had almost set completely, marring the forest with darkness.

As they were right outside the entrance, they heard the sound of battle. Then, a Ruined Kobold Renegade flew out of the dungeon entrance and disintegrated in mid-air.

After that, a lone player emerged from the entrance. He had a glaive on his left hand, and his HP was almost depleted.

"Riwet-kun!" Asuna screamed as she started to ran to the player, but she suddenly stopped

The glaive wielder clad in blue had this mad look as he slowly walked towards them. One of her guildmates, Godfree, slowly approached Riwet. He responded by brandishing his glaive towards them menacingly.

"Riwet! What are you doing?!" Godfree shouted. The glaive wielder didn't show any signs of comprehending him. Instead, he retaliated by running forward and sluggishly swinging at Godfree. "STOP IT!"

Asuna ran forward and stabbed Riwet's hand, disarming him. She then kicked her away. "Get a hold of yourself, Riwet-kun!" She shouted, before her eyes narrowed as she looked at him." ...Riwet-kun?"

He wasn't madly smiling like before, but he now had a vacant look in his eyes. "Asuna...san?" He said in a strangled, detached voice. "...hello, Asuna-san."

"Have you calmed down?"

"Yes. Of course. Why am I not calmed down?" He said in his usual polite tone.

"Where are the others?" Asuna asked.

"..." He froze and his head hung downwards. "Dead…"

The KoB members were stunned.

Asuna slowly walked towards Riwet.

"Pfft...hehe." She stopped when she heard Riwet laugh.

"Hehe….hehehe…" His shoulders started shaking and his laughter intensified as he reached for his knife. Before they could do anything, Riwet cackled madly as he started stabbing himself in the stomach with his knife. "HAHAHAHA!"

"NO! RIWET-KUN!" Asuna wailed as she reached her hand out and ran towards him.

She was too late. The delusional player didn't stop laughing and stabbing himself even after his HP reached zero. As he dissolved into particles, his haunting laughter echoed at the otherwise silent forest.

 _ *****  
End  
*****_

 **A/N:** Some extras I wanted to put out. I'm testing if I like putting the Extra chapter on its own or if it should be added to the main chapter. Right now I'm leaning on the former because the extra chapter may or may not fit the chapter it's in.

Extra chapters won't affect the schedule. You'll still get main chapter updates at around 30 days and you'll get these extras whenever I feel like it. Also, they're canon until I say they're not or release a main chapter that contradicts it.

Here's the Chapter 13 Bad End I was working on. I spent too much time on writing, scrapping, and rewriting this and I still think it ended up subpar. Needless to say, this isn't canon.

I got the idea of writing an intro back when I was just high off of finishing "The Hill of Swords". I started to look for other Familiar of Zero/Any crossover, and I got taken for a ride. Then, I stumbled upon a crossover with Kamen Rider Wizard called "Wizard of Zero" by Fenikkusumaru, where he did the exact same thing. I set it aside after reading a few chapters because I didn't know much about Wizard, and I forgot about it. Really need to catch up.

Back then, I thought to myself, hey, that's pretty cool!

…

Then I started AWE after a few months, and I forgot about doing an intro until last week.

…

Yeah.

That's all for now. Onwards!


	17. CH 16 - Arm and Hammer

Chapter 16 - Arm and Hammer

 _48th Floor_

 _June 24, 2024_

"Hmm~" The female blacksmith smiled mischievously.

Her friend, slightly flustered, moved away from her. "W-what?" She stammered. "..stop looking at me like that, Liz! I've had enough of that from Nairi already…" She grumbled while pouting.

"Hehe, my bad, Asuna." She replied while swinging her hammer and finishing up on forging a new weapon. _Not bad._ She thought.

Asuna smiled. "Don't worry. I recommended your shop to him. You'll meet him soon." She said as she handed her rapier to Lizbeth.

"Well, I'll be looking forward to that. Alright, let me see." Lizbeth said as she observed the rapier. The Lambent Light. _The_ best weapon that she had ever made to date. While her Smithing Skill and workshop equipment were top notch, her weapons were still very much affected by RNG. Based on previous patterns, she observed that she was lucky enough to forge weapons of similar quality every three months.

The blacksmith furrowed her brows as she focused on polishing and repairing the rapier. Easy and simple to perform, but it was undoubtedly extremely important for a frontliner to have their equipment in top condition. After a few minutes of work, she moved the rapier away from the polisher, its gleaming blade shining bright like the radiant morning sun.

When she was able to make such an exquisite weapon that the Sub-Commander of the one biggest guild in SAO was willing to take it to the frontlines as the absolute spearhead of the Clearers, it filled Lizbeth with no small amount of pride. Smiling confidently, she admired her masterpiece one last time before storing the weapon in its sheath.

"Fufun~" She said as she handed the rapier back to Asuna. "Well, good luck on your date, Asuna!"

"I-it's not a date!" Asuna replied, her face red as she handed Lizbeth the payment. "I should be going now. Stay safe, alright?" She waved her hand before leaving the shop with a spring in her step.

"...must be nice…" She muttered. She spent day after day honing her Smithing Skill, pouring every ounce of her time improving so that her business would flourish. And that only intensified even more as she saw this shop. But now that she had purchased the shop of her dreams and not have to move from Floor to Floor, she had a lot more time on her hands and she was starting to miss socializing with people.

She had a strong friendship with Asuna and Nairi, but most of the time they kept it short and to the point since they were busy with the front lines. And since she was a girl, a lot of guys wanted to be close to her, but she really didn't feel like responding. Lizbeth didn't expect that Asuna, the strict Sub-Commander of the KoB, would end up blushing and smiling softly like a character in a romantic story, so she was pretty envious of her.

After double checking that she completed all her orders and activities for today, all she had to do for the rest of the day was to wait for customers. She sat in a rocking chair behind her counter and opted for a light rest.

Before she drifted off, she wondered when she would find someone that she would fall for.

 _ *****  
Loading...Complete  
*****_

"Hey. Glad you could make it." Sefton greeted the player.

The black-clad player shrugged. "Once in a while's fine." He greeted back. "By the way, never got the chance to congratulate you for making it to the frontlines."

"Oh don't sweat it, Kirito. And thank you." Sefton replied. He checked the time. "We've got one more player coming. He should be here any minute now...oh here he is. Oi! Riwet!" He called out to the player that was approaching them. From the corner of his eye, Sefton thought that he saw Kirito wince slightly. "Glad you could make it."

"You caught me at a good time." Riwet said to him. Then, the blue-clad player turned to face Kirito. "Kirito." He said and nodded.

"...Riwet." Kirito nodded back.

"You guys know each other?" Sefton asked.

Kirito looked tentatively at Riwet. Riwet looked back at him before looking away to face Sefton. "Sort of…" Riwet said vaguely. "So, where's the rest of the Cats?" He asked.

Sefton could clearly see that the two of them were hiding something, but he got the feeling that he shouldn't pry. "Well, they are currently collaborating with KoB. We had one extra, so we drew straws. I got the short one." He pointed to a building a ways away. "Come on. We're gonna pick up our last member. I'll explain what I can on the way."

When the three of them entered Lizbeth's Smith Shop, they found the player sleeping on a rocking chair.

Sefton walked forward and called out to her. "U-umm…"

Lizbeth stood straight up. "Y-yes! I-I'm sorry for sleeping, Sensei!" She blurted out. Her half-asleep mind caught up, and she frantically bowed to them. "O-oh! W-welcome!" She said while coughing lightly to hide her embarrassment.

She found a familiar figure in front of her - a player clad in plate armor. He was wearing quite a bit of it, and the clothes he wore underneath was dark yellow in color. His friendly smile and focused eyes, along with his armor, gave the impression of a young and amiable paladin that nevertheless saw his fair share of battles.

"What can I do for you?" She asked Sefton. She looked at the other two people inside the shop. One wore black clothes and had a sword strapped on his back. He had no armor and shield and had a laid back expression on his face.

She took a look at the other one. He was wearing medium armor underneath a dark blue coat and had a glaive on his back. He had a neutral look on his face as he looked at her for a moment before shifting his face to the weapons she had on display.

"Well, first off, can you please polish and repair my weapon?" Sefton asked while he unstrapped the sheath and gave his sword to Lizbeth. He then to look at his two companions and nodded.

"Also, I want to purchase a sword from you." The swordsman in black spoke up.

"A spare glaive for me." The glaive wielder added.

"Well, you're free to take a look at the displays and tell me what you like." Lizbeth replied.

"I was thinking about a custom made one..." The swordsman trailed off.

"Let's talk about it later after you're finished with Sefton." The glaive wielder concluded.

Lizbeth gazed at them hesitantly before nodding and turning her attention back to the sword in her hand. She pulled it from its sheath and instinctively smiled at the familiar blade.

It was a sword that Sefton bought from her a few months ago. A simple Longsword with slightly above average stats. Its design was also very simple, with the only notable part was the small amber stone embedded right above its pommel.

Even though she had confidence in her Smithing skills, the sword wasn't really that special. However, she didn't expect that Sefton got a lot more mileage out of this sword than she initially expected. Not bad for someone who liked to buy a lot of 'novelty' equipment.

When she was done with the repairs, the player in black came closer. "For custom weapons, the metals right now are a bit expensive…" She explained. A key difference between basic and custom weapons was that custom weapons needed special materials and an exorbitant amount of Col to make.

"Money's not an issue. Please forge me the best sword you can make right now." He replied nonchalantly.

Lizbeth was speechless for a bit but managed to open her mouth. "That's a little vague...could you give me an idea of the stats you're looking for?"

The player nodded, taking the sword off his back, keeping the blade in its sheath. "Then, something as good as this or better?" He said as he handed it out to her.

 _It doesn't look anything special._ She thought as she looked at the simple black sheath and handle. However, as soon as she took it from the player's hands, her eyes widened as she almost dropped it. _Heavy!_ She had a high STR stat being a blacksmith and mace wielder and all, but even then, she didn't meet the sword's requirements.

She unsheathed the sword and its pitch black blade gleamed. The sword was about 3 feet 8 inches long. She didn't have to look hard to realize that this sword was of very high quality. She accessed its menu and found that the sword's name was Elucidator. _Elucidator._ She had heard of its name. It was one of the best swords that you could get from a monster drop, and it was exceptionally rare, too.

She handed the Elucidator back to him and brought out a custom Longsword that was hanging from the wall. "This is the best sword I have right now."

He took the sword from her hand and swung it with his hand. "It's a bit light…"

"That's because I used a speed type metal for it…"

"Hmm…"

"I'm guessing you'd want something a bit heavier?" Sefton chimed in. Kirito nodded slowly.

"Materials are expensive and hard to come by. If I had the proper materials, I could make a much better sword than that one." Lizbeth replied testily, not really happy that her best craft was unsatisfactory.

"And that's why we're here." Sefton said.

As he was starting to explain, the player in blue walked up to them. "Sorry for interrupting, but could you also repair my glaive?" He asked.

"Oh, sorry." Sefton nodded apologetically, and the player handed his glaive to Lizbeth.

Lizbeth was surprised to find that the glaive was similar to Elucidator in terms of stats. The glaive was called Caerulus. It was a very strong weapon that was dropped by a Field Boss on the 52nd Floor. It had a simple but durable and relatively lightweight metal shaft sporting numerous dents and bruises. Lizbeth unsheathed the weapon, and its dark blue blade showed signs of life in spite of having considerable wear and tear. The shaft was 4 feet long and the blade was about a foot long.

"Hang on a second." Lizbeth said as she set the glaive aside and checked her inventory. "I'm sorry. I thought that I have the necessary materials to upgrade your weapon. Looks like I'm short one Sterile Aquamarine Ingot."

He grinned and opened his Player Menu. "Oh, you mean this?" He said as he withdrew a small blue ingot.

"Yes! That's it!" Lizbeth excitedly replied. Before handed her the ingot, she double checked that she had the right materials. After doing the right calculations, she hesitantly opened her mouth. "Got some good news and some bad news. The good news is that the upgrade is 100% successful and the stat bonus is good."

"Nice. What's the bad news?"

"The upgrade's gonna cost you 300,000 Col." She concluded, handing him a window detailing the transaction details. For reference, the cheapest custom made weapon was worth 100,000 Col. And to top all of that, this was an _upgrade_ , not really a new weapon.

"Done." Without hesitating, the player pressed Yes, and the window accepted it, signifying that he had enough cash on hand.

Sefton whistled through his teeth. "Well, somebody's loaded."

The player shrugged. "Proof that throwing enough money at something makes it better." He grinned.

"Well...not necessarily…" Lizbeth quipped. "Since you already paid, should I get started? It'll take a few minutes at most." Weapon upgrading and polishing took less time than completely forging a new weapon.

When Riwet nodded expectantly, the blacksmith steeled herself as she went to work. After a few minutes, she finally finished upgrading the glaive.

Heaving the glaive slightly, Lizbeth examined her work. All the dents and damage were gone as if they never existed. And even then, the blade refused to glimmer brightly. It was contented with keeping its luster to itself. An unassuming weapon capable of much, much more that what it showed.

Lizbeth handed Caerulus to the player in blue who had a giddy smile on his face. He gave it a swing, and then another one, and then another one. As he was testing his new glaive, Lizbeth observed him carefully. His strikes were simple and plain, but also efficient and decisive. The weapon suited him.

The player gave his glaive one last brandish before sheathing it and strapping it on his back. "Lizbeth-san, I realized that I never introduced myself to you." The player held his right hand out. "My name's Riwet. I am fortunate to get to know such a skilled blacksmith."

She took his hand and shook it. "Oh, don't mention it." She had the same impression of Riwet as she had with his glaive. Unassuming and restrained, but undoubtedly very powerful.

"Keep this up and you'll have a customer for life." He smiled.

The black-clad player also came closer and held out his hand. "Name's Kirito. Nice to meet you." He said as he and Lizbeth shook hands.

After that exchange, Sefton told her of the rumors. Lizbeth had heard of it. Supposedly, a nocturnal dragon in the 55th Floor ate crystals as food and stocked large quantities of it to create an extremely strong metal within its stomach. Countless white dragons were killed, but nobody ever got the metal, only garbage loot that didn't even pay for the healing items and equipment repair costs incurred from fighting it. There were numerous theories as to how to get the metal to spawn. "Well, rumor has it that parties need a blacksmith."

Lizbeth nodded. "And so you've come to invite me."

"That's right. Well, are you in?" Sefton smiled mischievously. "Or does Lizbeth want to go back to Dreamland, instead?"

"Heh." Lizbeth scoffed. "You kidding me? I'm in."

"Alright, let's go." He replied nonchalantly.

Lizbeth opened her Player Menu and equipped some armor over her clothes. After confirming that she had enough healing items, she went outside with the three and set the status of her shop to Closed.

 _ *****  
Loading...Complete  
*****_

 _55th Floor_

"Achoo!" Lizbeth sneezed loudly as they traversed the Floor, which was covered with snow. She forgot that the 55th Floor's weather was perpetually set to cold.

Sefton, who was walking beside her, turned and looked at her. "You didn't bring any extra clothing?"

"No…"

He opened his Player Menu and materialized a fur-lined cape. "Here."

"Thank you." Lizbeth said before putting it on. She let out a comfortable sigh as the cape kept her from being cold. As they walked onwards, Sefton looked at the two players in front of them, unaffected by the cold as they silently strolled forward.

They walked carefully inside the mountain range, heading for the highest mountain in the group. In normal circumstances, traversing the mountains were relatively safe, but the weather started picking up. Clouds formed over the already dim sky, and the snowfall slightly intensified.

After half an hour of hiking its snow-covered paths, the group had reached the mountaintop.

"Uwaa~" Lizbeth gasped. Huge columns of crystal pillars protruded from the thick snow. Its refractive surface silently remained colorless, as the clouds hid the light of the setting sun. Nevertheless, the scene was extraordinarily beautiful.

Just as Lizbeth was about to dash over, Kirito grabbed her collar. "Wait. Are you ready to use your healing items?" He asked. The laid-back player had an unusually serious look on his face.

"A-alright. I got it." Lizbeth replied, tapping her pouch.

Kirito nodded and released his hand. "We're nearing where the monster's supposed to be. Go hide, and we'll take care of it."

Lizbeth's brow furrowed. "Wh-what? I can handle myself."

"No." He shook his head, his serious face darkening. Sefton walked up and silently placed his hand on Kirito's shoulder. Kirito's expression softened as he looked away. "Sorry." He said as he walked away from Lizbeth.

Sefton walked towards her. "No offense, but Kirito's right. Us three can handle it, alright?" He explained. Lizbeth could also see the concern on his face, so she relented with a nod.

After a few minutes, the dragon appeared. She gasped at its size and imposing presence. She saw that the other three were undeterred as they slowly walked towards it. The amber paladin was in the center, with the black swordsman on his left and the blue glaive wielder on the right.

Kirito looked to the other two. "You two should also hide with Lizbeth. I could handle this one myself."

Sefton shook his head. "That's not really why I called you here for, Kirito."

Riwet also didn't budge. "Hey. Perfect time to test my new weapon."

Lizbeth was flabbergasted. They actually had the gall to banter while they gingerly walked towards the dragon.

The dragon reared its head and gathered energy within its mouth as it hovered mid-air. Sefton drew his shield out and held it in from of him. Riwet drew his glaive and crouched down, bracing himself. Kirito didn't move from his spot, drawing his sword out and spinning it vertically like a very fast windmill.

With a deep roar, the white dragon opened its jaw and sprayed out a wave of white gas. The breath slammed into them before fully engulfing them inside a plume of mist. When the smoke cleared, she saw that the three of them were virtually unscathed.

Kirito burst through and leaped into the air. The dragon retaliated with its claws. Or at least tried to, since Kirito just cut one of its arms in one fell swoop.

From the ground, Riwet drew a Throwing Knife, took aim at the dragon's wing, and threw it with his right hand. The knife struck true, ripping the dragon's wing. It didn't do much damage, but it forced the dragon to land.

Sefton was next, walking directly in front of the dragon. The dragon opened its mouth and tried to bite him. His shield glowed slightly, and he drove it forward and bashed the dragon's head with it.

With the dragon stunned and grounded, the three laid into it. Sefton did what he could from the front while Kirito and Riwet relentlessly attacked it from both flanks. Just like that, the dragon's HP bar turned to red in a matter of seconds.

It was a slaughter. The dragon didn't have a chance.

Lizbeth's amazement made her unconsciously step out from where she was hiding. As if they had eyes on the back of their heads, the three shouted to her.

"Idiot! Don't come out yet!" "Get back, Lizbeth!" "Hurry up and hide!"

They were too late. The dragon fully expanded its wings and beat it forward. A strong gust of wind knocked her off her feet and blew hear away.

Right into a gigantic hole atop the mountain peak.

She completely froze for a second, then she screamed while her hands flailed wildly as she fell into the chasm. "NOOOOO!" She closed her eyes, unable to open them out of paralyzing fear.

A hand suddenly grasped her fingers. Her eyes shot open and she turned her head to look.

Sefton had jumped for her and grabbed her, pulling her into an embrace. Further upwards, Lizbeth also saw Kirito dive for them.

"Hold on tight!" She heard Sefton's frantic voice beside her, and she frantically hugged his body. The wind howled in their ears and their clothes flared.

Lizbeth stared at the sky as they fell downwards. She could see Kirito's mouth moving, but her mind was too racked for her to understand.

Suddenly, Sefton began to move. He raised his sword and slammed it into the wall. A flash of light burst out as his sword ground violently through the wall. The action lowered their falling speed, but they were too heavy and moving too fast to completely break their fall. Looking down, Lizbeth could see the bottom of the cave getting closer and closer.

However, Sefton's sword broke under the strain, and they both fell faster. Sefton pushed her away so that she wouldn't be crushed by his armor.

Then, a forceful impact rang loudly from the bottom of the cave.

Lizbeth was stunned for a few moments, her eyes closed tight. The cold feel of the snow shook off her daze, and she opened her eyes. Slowly sitting up, her eyes wandered to the side, and she saw Sefton nearby, lying on his back and not moving.

"Hey...hey! Are you alright?!" She said as she stumbled towards him.

Sefton's eyes flickered open, and he looked at her weakly. "I...think I'm fine…" he rasped.

She felt so relieved that she lost her strength. She weakly put her head on his chest and laid there with him, both of them trying to calm down after a harrowing ordeal.

After a few seconds, they heard a grinding noise. Planting his sword on the wall, Kirito was scaling the walls downward, his Elucidator easily enduring the ride down. "Are you two okay?!" He said as he ran towards them.

The two abruptly sat up. "We-we're fine." Sefton stammered.

"Thank god…" He sighed in relief. "Did you guys get damaged?...well, of course you are. Heal up for now."

They nodded and drank their potions. Lizbeth meekly looked at Sefton. "Umm...thank you...for saving me…" She whispered.

The paladin smiled at her and nodded before turning to Kirito. "You should thank Kirito. If he hadn't shouted at me to try and slow the fall using my sword, we would've ended up far worse."

"We're not out of this yet." Kirito chimed in as he looked upwards at the entrance. "How are we gonna get out of here?"

"Can't we just teleport?" Lizbeth suggested as she took out a Teleport Crystal. "Oh, no…" She whimpered. The crystal was marked as disabled. Desperate, she still held it high. "Teleport! Lindarth!" She commanded.

No response.

"TELEPORT! LINDARTH!"

Still no response. She dropped her head in despair. Sefton put his hand on her shoulder. "Hey, don't worry. There's gotta be another way out of here."

"You don't know that. This trap could be meant to kill anyone who falls into it!" She replied resignedly.

Sefton nodded his head. "Well, now that I think about it, you're probably right."

Kirito also nodded. "Yeah...we're pretty much doomed."

Lizbeth was beside herself. "Oh, _come on!_ Can't you guys be a bit more positive?!" She yelled incredulously.

The two smiled. "That's more like it." Sefton chuckled.

"Wha-" She flushed red and froze. "L-let's try some things out. Do you guys have any ideas?"

"Hmm…" Sefton droned as he opened his Player Menu. "In addition to crystals, private messages are also disabled."

"Well, do you think Riwet-kun will come and save us?" As if on cue, a line of rope came down from above. "Yes! We're saved!" Lizbeth cheered.

Only for a figure to come crashing down. "OUTOFTHEWAYOUTOFTHEWAYOUTOFTHEWAY!"

"Kyaa!" The blacksmith backed off with a yelp, and the figure slammed face first on the ground near her.

Pushing himself up, Riwet rolled over to his back and breathed sharply. "That...was not supposed to happen…" He wheezed.

"You alright there, Riwet?" Sefton helped him up.

"Yeah. Damn…" He grunted. "Sorry I took so long."

"What happened up there?" Lizbeth asked.

Riwet sighed heavily. "I finished off the dragon before coming close to this hole. Crystals and Messaging are disabled near the edge, so I assumed that it's also disabled down here." He tugged at the rope, which had the same color as the walls on this hole. "I found a bunch of these rope-like things tied to a nearby crystal pillar. I was able to unroll one and throw it down the hole, but the weather started acting up."

He paused, and they all looked up to find a fierce blizzard raging in the night sky. "I was looking around for a second one to set, but the weather got me. I was blown away, spun around, and thrown into here. Miraculously, I caught this rope after all of that. I started making my way down, but I slipped and fell." He explained, opening his Player Menu. "I didn't get anything useful out of that dragon. No rare metal. Just garbage loot."

Lizbeth walked closer to the rope and grabbed it. It felt solid and strong on her hand like it could easily support all their weight combined. "Hmm...?"She touched it to open a window, and she gasped. "I-Immortal Object?! This rope's an Immortal Object!"

The other three took a closer look. "Yeah. That's definitely an Immortal Object. Since it's durability won't go down, it's strong enough to hold all four of us, and more. Lots more. Hmm..." Riwet mused. "It's got a timer on it...24 hours. I guess it'll last for 24 hours. More than enough time to do whatever we're supposed to be doing here."

"I get it now!" Kirito exclaimed. "We're supposed to be here!"

"What?" Sefton asked.

"This is probably tied to a quest or something, or just simply a way for us to climb down here. Since this rope has a similar color to the pillars up there, I can assume that this was hard to find?" He asked Riwet. The glaive wielder nodded. "This is most likely a hidden dungeon area. I'd bet that there's something of importance in here, but…" He trailed off.

The blizzard didn't show any signs of letting up, and the snow bombarded them from above. Add that to the cloudy night sky, and visibility was near zero. Kirito looked at Sefton and Lizbeth and realized that they needed rest. While their HP bars were full, they both looked too tired to do anything else for the night. "We should set camp here. We can't climb up the ropes and expect to get out unscathed with that weather." He looked around. "This place looks safe. Not exactly marked as a safe zone, but no monsters have spawned, either."

The three looked around for a moment before finally nodding their heads.

 _ **Loading...Complete  
Changing Perspective: Riwet  
*****_

"I didn't expect a material gathering quest to be this troublesome." Kirito sighed.

"Me neither." I replied, staring up at the night sky.

Only two sources of light were present in the area - one small lamp between me and Kirito, and one small lamp on the other side of the hole where Sefton and Liz were lying down.

After having dinner, the four of us set up our sleeping bags and laid there. Since I wasn't really tired I'd end up tossing and turning a lot, so I elected to lay away from them and let them sleep. I also told Kirito that I wanted to talk to him. The other side of the hole was far enough that Kirito and I couldn't hear the two and vice versa unless one of us would deliberately activate their Scanning Skills to eavesdrop.

"Having said that, you don't really sound that bothered with it."

I shrugged. "I mean, I like the snow, so...yeah..." I trailed off. Beats being rained on or sun-dried, that's for damn sure.

"..." Kirito stayed silent.

I took a deep breath and addressed the elephant in the room. "Does it...remind you of anything unpleasant?" I asked carefully. He winced slightly. "If you don't don't want to talk about it, then I'll shut up now."

"No...no, I was just a bit surprised. "He replied. "I admit, it stings a bit, but I'm fine with talking about it."

"...it was pretty intense back then…"

"...yeah…"

"...do you hate me?" I asked.

"...I should be the one asking you that."

My eyes widened slightly. "Why?"

"Back then, I was ready to kill you before Nicholas showed up. You pushed me out of the way of a fatal attack, and I had the audacity to call you a fool."

I shook my head. "I don't hate you for that. I was also tempted to take you out back when we were busy fighting Nicholas. But like I said, you're more important than who I was trying to save."

Kirito turned to look at me. "Idiot. Who'd hate you for that?" He replied incredulously.

"I'd assume that it's perfectly fine to hate a player who could compare the value of a person," I snapped my fingers, "Just like that."

He stayed silent for a bit, then he told me his story. About how he was involved with the Moonlit Black Cats, and how they lost one of their players.

"I was in a dark place at that time, and seeing you successfully push me out of danger didn't help. At all." He said. "...but I don't hate you for what you did."

I also told him my part. As I expected, talking about it didn't hurt me very much. "I regret not being strong enough, but I don't exactly blame myself for their deaths."

"I see…" he pondered.

"Is it...wrong for me to think that way?"

"Don't forget what I told you all the way back on the 25th Floor." He reminded me.

"I'd say the same to you." I replied.

"Yeah…"

"So...we good?"

"Yeah...we're good." He replied. That's good to hear.I felt like a weight was taken off my shoulders. I glanced up at the night sky and smiled.

He yawned. "By the way, how's the frontlines on your end?"

"Nothing much, really."

"Still playing yes man to everyone?"

I shrugged. "Primarily it's KoB and Fuurinkazan. Some are hit or miss, with others not wanting to party with me because I lack their so-called guild loyalty. Their loss, I guess."

"You care a bit too little for a normal person." Kirito remarked offhandedly before his eyes widened. "Sorry...that didn't come out right…" He looked away.

"I could've replied by saying that you care too much for an outcast, but that also comes out wrong." I chuckled before smiling mirthlessly. "Well, you're talking to the guy who left you all alone to deal with the angry mob all the way back on the 1st Floor and felt _relieved_ when he found out that there's nothing he could have done, instead of feeling frustrated that he couldn't do anything. I kinda deserve that statement."

Kirito sighed and shook his head. "You're still hung up on that?"

I pursed my lips absently. "Not always. Pops up once in a while. Like you said, I don't care much about things. However, the few things I care about, I care about a lot."

Kirito snorted. "You've already paid me back twofold when you saved me from Sobek and Nicholas."

"Not bad for someone like me, amirite?" I chuckled, then I nodded my head as I thought of a good idea. "Speaking of caring, if we don't find the metal tomorrow, I've got a sword that you'll like. It's not upgraded, but if it is, I can guarantee that it'll match your Elucidator pound for pound." I smiled slightly.

I could feel the gears turning inside his head. Sighing loudly, he sat up and faced me. "Alright, I'll bite. Let's see it."

Grinning, I sat up and opened my Player Menu. I withdrew a pitch black blade and held it in my hands.

 _Warning. Skill requirements not met._

Thank you _very much_ for pointing that out, game.

Kirito's eyes widened. "Th-that's…"

"You can test it out yourself, but I'm sure that you know how good it is." I chuckled as I put it back in my inventory. "Of course, it'll cost you."

"Whatever happened to caring?"

"Oh, yeah, I care...about money, that is." I snickered before my face softened to a slight smile. "I'm joking. Just give me spare Col that you wouldn't miss."

He pondered for a bit. "...300,000 Col?"

I shrugged. "Alright."

After the exchange, Kirito laid down and closed his eyes. Well, nothing left to do but rest. I closed my eyes and tried to sleep. Fortunately, Kirito's statement took a weight out of my shoulders, and I felt my consciousness fade.

"Riwet." Kirito said. "One last thing."

"What's that?"

"Don't sacrifice yourself to save me again. Once is quite enough." He said to me sternly.

"Would you rather I keep you company?" I suggested.

"Heh." He chuckled mirthlessly. "Seriously though, don't."

"...Alright." I replied.

No promises though.

 _ *****  
Chapter End  
*****_

 **A/N:** TWOLUCIDATORS! DUOCIDATORS! ZWEILUCIDATORS!

…

*ahem* Sorry. Got too excited. Yeah, Kirito now has two Elucidators.

I had fun writing this chapter. I enjoyed describing Caerulus. A lil fun fact - I initially wanted Riwet to mainly use either spears or axes, but personally I associate spears with pinpoint precision and flurries of stabs befitting calm and collected soldiers who dismantle their enemies at range, and axes with reckless assaults and overwhelming aggression befitting screaming berserkers who like it up close and personal. I first decided on conventional one-handed polearms (spear point with axe head, and eventually glaives) because they seemed like a middle ground between the two. I didn't want him to use swords so that he has a distinct difference to Kirito at the very start.

And speaking of distinct differences, I seem to have unwittingly developed him as a foil of sorts to Kirito. Kirito is a right-handed Sword user who is a solo player and loner because of circumstances. Riwet is a left-handed Polearm user who is a solo player and loner by choice. Kirito is as anti-social as he is caring despite being an outcast while Riwet is as friendly as he is detached despite being in good terms with the community. It was not a conscious choice on my part to make him a foil, but it's good to be aware of it. And now that I think about it, future developments will probably make this more apparent.

Also, I feel that the rope would be a sensible addition. What kind of game would leave you stranded on a hole? I'll elaborate the mechanics here, since they won't discover it - five of those ropes exist and can be thrown down on the hole. In the event that a player ended up inside the hole without any ropes sent down, it'll wait 15 hours before a rope gets automatically thrown down. All ropes reset after 24 hours.

Thank you ArcWarden 1 for your review of Supplementary 1. Yeah, it's an alternate end that is very much non-canon. I've been thinking about it, and I decided that Bad Ends will not be frequent. I don't want Supplementary chapters to be known as 'The Many Possible Deaths of Riwet'. Bad Ends are just there as a contingency. However, it's encouraging to hear that the reaction is 'poor guy' rather than 'good riddance'.

That's all for now. Thank you very much, and have a good one.


	18. CH 17 - Heartfelt Warmth

Chapter 17 - Heartfelt Warmth

 _55th Floor  
_ _June 24, 2024_

"Strange…" Lizbeth muttered. She was inside a sleeping bag as she stared at the night sky, with snow falling gently on her.

"What is?" Sefton replied, laying on a sleeping bag on her left. A small lantern above their heads provided a small source of light and additional heat.

She chuckled. "Sleeping next to someone while stranded at a place I've never been to. I mean, what are the odds?"

"In my experience, more than you think." Sefton sighed, before taking a second to check up on the other two players on the other side of the hole. "I hope tomorrow's weather conditions are better."

Lizbeth turned towards Sefton and looked at him. "Hey...Sefton…" She whispered

"What's up, Lizbeth?" Turning towards her, Sefton noticed that Lizbeth was facing him and tried his best to remain composed as she stared at him intently.

"Back then...why did you save me?" She asked. Since he was a tank, Sefton was in enough danger already. He didn't need to further risk his life for careless dead weights.

His calm and cheery demeanor darkened. Lizbeth's eyes widened as she noticed the change. "I could just chalk it up and doing the right thing, but…" He shook his head. "It's because...I needed to do something. Once is...one time too many…" He trailed off.

"..." Lizbeth nodded silently as she turned back and laid her eyes on the sky. His response was vague but understandable.

Her desire for human interaction surged after having been repressed for too long. Lizbeth instinctively turned to face Sefton once again. "Sefton…"

"...yeah?"

"Can you...hold my hand?" She asked meekly, drawing her hand out of her sleeping bag and reaching it towards him.

Sefton's eyes widened. He turned to face her back. Her eyes were wide and tinted with worry, but also resolute. He lost himself in her eyes for a moment before he composed himself and managed a small smile as he nodded silently.

Sefton slowly reached out with his hand to touch Lizbeth's. When they made contact, they winced and jerked their hands away for a second before comfortably grasping them together.

"It's warm…" Lizbeth said. "Even though it's a virtual world…"

"Yeah…" Sefton wholeheartedly agreed.

Lizbeth was afraid. Afraid that, since Sword Art Online wasn't real, she could never be close to anybody, and she might as well not try. She buried herself into work, convincing herself that her blacksmithing life was her reality. However, deep inside her mind, she craved human warmth. It was just too much for her.

Of course, the hand holding hers was digital data, nothing more than ones and zeroes. And yet, it didn't matter. It was warm. So very, _very_ warm.

Sefton was overjoyed. He finally saved someone. He was too slow to save Ducker, and his failure caused him an irrational fear of not being capable of saving someone at a crucial time. From that point in time, he worked even harder to save the people that he cared about.

Of course, to be able to save someone, that person would have to be in trouble. Ever since the accident, the Moonlit Black Cats doubled down on safety. For all intents and purposes, he should be happy. Everybody stayed safe. However, there was this sensation eating at him - the sensation of wanting to prove himself. It was so bad that he caught himself wanting for his party to _be in actual danger._ He felt sick of himself the moment he thought of that. He spent some time clearing his head and burying himself in his work, and the feeling subsided.

Until they partied up yesterday.

He wondered if his wishes somehow resulted in Lizbeth being in danger. How would he react if he failed to save her? Or worse, did he really save her? Was this the delusions of a madman?

However, when he felt how warm her hands were, he was assured. He did it. He really saved her.

Their hearts were beating a bit too fast, but both of them found comfort with each other's warmth as they closed their eyes and slept.

 _ *****  
Loading...Complete**_

Lisbeth stirred as she smelled a whiff of something sweet. She opened her eyes and was greeted by a clear view of the vibrant morning sun. She was about to get up when she realized that her hand, which was holding Sefton's hand yesterday night, had been neatly tucked inside her sleeping bag. She recalled the warmth that she felt, and she channeled it into herself before she stood up and stretched her limbs.

She heard a bit of commotion nearby, and she turned her head to look.

"So, we've dug for like a minute. Anybody actually know what we're actually looking for?" Sefton asked while digging the snow with his hands.

"I dunno, a metal of some sorts?" Kirito replied as he did the same.

"Ugh, gross."Riwet grunted as he threw a handful of what looked like yellow snow away. He materialized a shovel and was about to start plowing the ground when he noticed that Lizbeth was awake. "Good morning." Kirito and Sefton turned towards her and also greeted her before going back to digging.

Kirito glanced at Riwet. "Got a spare?"

Riwet shook his head. "Nope."

Lizbeth's eyes unconsciously wandered to the paladin, and she lightly slapped her cheeks to wake herself up and clear the blush that was forming on her face. "What are you guys doing?" she asked as she approached them.

"Whatever we're supposed to find here." Sefton explained. "If we can't find anything in the snow, we'll start mining the walls. For now, can you check on the tea?" He said as he pointed at a spot near her.

Lizbeth looked at the direction and saw that the lantern was placed under a teapot. She opened the lid before shaking her head. "Water's not ready yet. I'll give it a few more minutes!" Hot drinks could simply be stored in the inventory, but there's something inexplicably better about having tea that was recently heated.

"Well, back to it, I guess." Riwet said as he drove the shovel into the snowy ground. His eyes widened and all eyes turned to him as his shovel reverberated with a metallic clang. "Guys! I think I got something!" He said excitedly as he quickly dug out the ground around it. He then backed away and let the two carefully brush the snow off.

Sefton picked the material up and inspected it. "Is this it?" He asked. The rectangular ore was about the size of both his hands and had a silvery-white color with a tinge of teal.

Lizbeth touched the rock and opened a window. Its ID was displayed as Crystalline Ingot. "This...this is it!" She exclaimed.

They cheered. "Whew, finally!"

The blacksmith took a closer look at the Ingot's detailed stats. "Hmm...this is enough to forge one item. We need to find more of those."

After digging around for a bit more, they took a break as the tea was ready. The tea was tasty and had a sweet hint of mint on it. After they finished their tea, they got back to digging again.

Sefton threw the Crystalline Ingot at Riwet. "You found it, right? Then keep it."

Riwet immediately threw it back. "I'm all good on my weapons. I'll take the extra when we get one."

Sefton nodded and handed it over to Lizbeth. "Here. Not really that knowledgeable in smithing materials, so can you hold on to this for now and analyze it for me?" He asked her.

"Sure." She nodded.

"Thanks." He smiled.

As she reached and grabbed the Ingot, Lizbeth's fingers unconsc- _Accidentally-_ brushed ever so slightly with Sefton's. The two remembered last night, and they embarrassedly darted away from each other.

They noticed that the sounds of digging disappeared, and the two of them realized that the other two people were silently staring at them.

With _that_ look.

Sefton nonchalantly played it off. "Wh..at's up?" He squeaked, managing to not stutter.

"Nnnnnuthin'." Kirito mused, his expression unchanging.

"Nnnnnuthin' at all." Riwet supplied.

Kirito looked at Lizbeth. Lizbeth looked away, flustered. His eyes then went to the Crystalline Ingot, and his expression straightened. "So I've been thinking...the dragon eats crystals and stocks it in its stomach right?"

"Yeah. So, how did you get it from the ground?" Lizbeth asked. Beside Kirito, Riwet grimaced, apparently catching on to something she hadn't yet.

He looked around him. "With the existence of the rope and that metal, this place isn't a trap. It's more likely that this is the dragon's den."

Sefton's eyes widened. "Then, that means…the thing that Lizbeth's holding right now...it's…"

"Dragon excrement." "A literal piece of crap." Kirito and Riwet said at the same time.

"Geh!" Lizbeth threw it at Sefton.

"Ugh!" It hit him in the face before he caught it with his hands.

"O-oh! I-I'm sorry!" Lizbeth looked at him worriedly. "Are you alright?"

Sefton smiled. "Yeah, I'm okay."

The two were lost in their own world for a second before breaking off, realizing that the other two were giving them _that_ look again.

"What?" Lizbeth asked.

"Nnnnnuthin'." Kirito mused, his expression unchanging.

"Nnnnnuthin' at all." Riwet supplied.

"Wait." She pondered. "This is the dragon's nest, right?"

"Yeah." Kirito replied.

"And the dragon's nocturnal, right?"

Riwet drew out his glaive. "Yep."

Before anyone else was able to say anything, they heard a rush of air from above. They looked up, and they saw the white dragon diving right at them, fully respawned and with full HP.

"It's here!" Lizbeth screamed.

Kirito drew his sword out and Sefton covered for her with his shield.

Riwet and Kirito met it halfway. The swordsman clothed in black moved too fast for Lizbeth to see, his strikes and slashes disappearing into a flurry. The glaive wielder in blue wasn't as fast as Kirito, but he nonetheless tore into the dragon like it was a piece of paper. By the time it landed on the ground, its HP was almost completely depleted.

With one desperate roar, the dragon swiped at Sefton and Lizbeth. The paladin effortlessly deflected it with his shield. "Liz! Switch!"

Lizbeth nodded and roared, bashing her mace into the dragon's head. It was the first time Sefton called her that. And honestly, she didn't mind.

The dragon went still, its HP zero. Then, its head exploded and its body fell apart in a dozen pieces before disintegrating.

Riwet gave his glaive a swish before sheathing it. Kirito sheathed his sword and dusted his hands. "Well, that's done. Back to digging, I guess…"

Sefton walked over to the teapot and checked the water. "Guys! Tea's ready again!"

"Alright!" The two cheered and walked closer to him.

Lizbeth was once again struck speechless for a second, before shaking her head incredulously. These three were really something else.

After having their tea, they started to look for more Crystalline Ingots, but they didn't find any more. They speculated that only one ingot would spawn at a time, and had a lengthy respawn. It was a precious metal, after all.

And with that, they climbed out of the hole. "Whoa…" Lizbeth gasped. The clear morning sun shone over the winter landscape, and the snow reflected its light like a brilliant diamond, creating an immensely beautiful scene.

They took a moment to appreciate the horizon. Riwet held out a Screen Shot Camera Crystal and took some pictures.

"So, ready to head out?" Kirito asked.

Nodding their heads, the four of them teleported back to Lizbeth's shop.

"Well, we're back!" Lizbeth smiled. It had only been a day, but she found that she missed the place.

As she walked inside, Sefton called from behind her. "Hey, Liz. Catch." Sefton said as he withdrew the Crystalline Ingot and lobbed it to her.

Lizbeth caught it. "Let's go to the workshop." They went through the door behind the counter, and into Lizbeth's workshop. She opened a window to turn the furnace on. She then placed the ingot inside it. "A One-Handed Longsword, correct?" Lizbeth double checked.

"That's right." Sefton confirmed. Lizbeth nodded and went to work.

When she saw that the correct temperature was reached, she used her pliers and placed it on the anvil. She picked up her favorite smithing hammer and took a deep breath. She glanced one last time at Sefton's face before she lifted the hammer and brought it down to the red-hot metal.

Her mind tunneled to the task at hand. She thought of nothing else but the correct motions to forge the sword, and the rest darkened out of focus.

And yet, as her hammer struck the ingot, various thoughts filled the inside of her head.

If the sword was made and the need was met, Sefton would naturally go back to the frontlines. And since he was a tank, he was the one who faced the relentless hordes of monsters head-on.

For the longest time, her greatest fear was that everything in this game wasn't real. Sefton proved her otherwise. But now, her greatest fear was Sefton not coming back to her.

Lizbeth's previous weapons were works of logic, a combination of her Skill as a blacksmith and the fickle nature of SAO. Her emotions played no part in the results of the process. It didn't matter.

But now, she didn't care. She remembered the warmth that she felt from him, and she felt it overwhelming her. She struck the metal with both the experience she accumulated as a blacksmith and the emotion that she, Shinozaki Rika, felt yesterday.

In the time that she spent trapped in SAO, she had never been so...free _. Alive._ She poured everything into creating this sword so that this sword would be able to protect Sefton.

The man that she had come to love.

At the final strike of the hammer, the metal glowed.

"Ohhh…" The four of them murmured as they got closer. The light intensified as the shape of the metal straightened into a sword.

But then, another miracle happened.

Half of the metal broke away and started forming into a shield.

When the light dimmed, the paladin in amber, the swordsman in black, the glaive wielder in blue, and the pink-haired blacksmith gaped at the sight of two items created as a result of only forging one weapon. Such a phenomenon never happened before, and considering the intensive smithing industry in SAO, this was likely a one-in-a-billion chance of happening.

The shield was a work of art. It had a typical shape - a teardrop with its head cut horizontally. It was made of tempered metal, gleaming with a faint color of amber, and it was large enough that Sefton could comfortably hide behind it. On its back was a wrist strap made out of durable material, and its front had no design - a blank slate that would eventually be carved and dented by the brutal battlefield.

The sword was equally as beautiful. Its blade was pale and average in size. It was slightly translucent, just like its source material. However, when light reflected on it, it gleamed a warm amber color. Its crossguard was straight, and at the center of it was a small amber stone. Its grip was darker than the rest of the blade.

Regaining her senses, Lizbeth reached out and touched the base of the sword. A window popped up and showed her the details. "The sword is called 'Shade's Consort (Sword)' and the shield is called 'Shade's Consort (Shield)'." She said before her eyes caught something interesting. Well, better to just show them. She looked at Sefton. "Have a look." She said, motioning him to come closer.

Sefton nodded and opened the sword's detail window. "Whoa…" he whispered.

Their names were unique, but their stats were more noteworthy. While the sword's attack power was only very slightly above average, it gave significant _defensive_ bonuses. The shield didn't let up either, as it had _three times_ more durability than Sefton's current shield.

He equipped the two and took a stance, his shield held in front and his sword on the side. He then darted forward and stabbed the space in front of him with his sword. "...it's amazing…!" He smiled. Not only was it statistically powerful, it was pretty comfortable to use, too. It was the first time that he used it, and yet he felt completely accustomed to it.

"Conglaturations." Kirito grinned.

"Thanks. I'm sorry that we didn't find any more of those ingots." He replied.

The swordsman in black grinned. "Don't worry about it. As for a spare, Riwet's got me covered."

"Heyo." Riwet chimed in. "Well, if we really need more, we could just get more."

"Well, we don't exactly know when it'll spawn again…" Sefton trailed off.

The glaive wielder in blue shrugged. "Laxatives." He said stone-faced, before breaking into a chuckle as the three gave him disapproving looks.

"Alright, let's get back on topic." Sefton announced, turning his attention to Lizbeth. "I am more than happy with the resulting product. So, how much?" Sefton asked.

"F-for that...well, I…" Lizbeth stammered.

Suddenly, the workshop door forcefully opened.

"Liz!" Asuna shouted as she gave her a tight hug.

"Asuna?!" Lizbeth whispered.

The KoB Sub-Commander tightened her hug as she went on. "I couldn't send messages to you, or track you on the map, not to mention your regular customers didn't know anything, so where in the world did you go last night?! I even went all the way to the Monument of Life to check, you know!" She all but screamed out.

"A-ahah...sorry. I got stuck in a dungeon for a bit..." Lizbeth said sheepishly.

Asuna pulled away and peered incredulously at her. "A dungeon?! You went alone?!"

"No, I was with them." Lizbeth said as she pointed behind Asuna.

The rapier user spun around and froze, before her voice went an octave higher. "E-eh?! Ki-Kirito-kun?!" Asuna blurted out.

"Yo, Asuna." Kirito sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.

Lizbeth looked at Asuna's interaction between the two. After a few moments of connecting the dots, a mischievous grin made its way into her lips. "Arara~?"

"Hoooh~" Sefton cooed, apparently reaching the same conclusion.

"Wh-what?" Asuna stammered.

"Nnnnnuthin'." Lizbeth and Sefton hummed in unison, their expressions unchanging.

"Nnnnnuthin' at all." Riwet supplied. "Also...hi Asuna-san. Sefton and I here, hi. I hope you didn't, like, forget about us, because, you know, like, _Kirito-kun~_ is in front of you." He slowly drawled out with a mischievous smile.

"Alright, knock it off." Kirito sighed.

Another player emerged from behind the counter. She wore a blue tunic with a chest guard and had a beauty mark underneath her right eye.

"Sefton! And Kirito-kun?!" Sachi started.

Amidst the commotion, Riwet received a message notification. He opened his Player Menu and read it briefly. Sefton saw that his neutral expression softened ever so slightly to a smile. "Uh, I gotta go. I'll see you guys later!" He said as he left the shop. The other three left not long after.

And with that, only Sefton and Lizbeth remained.

"So...you and Sachi-chan seem...close." Lizbeth gulped.

Sefton sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah. Her and Kirito are basically my siblings. You two should hang out sometime."

"I see...sibling…" Lizbeth muttered, the mounting feeling in her heart slowly disappearing as she let out a relieved sigh.

"So...where were we?" Sefton asked. "Oh, right! What's the payment?"

Lizbeth took a deep breath. "I don't need...any money." She looked down at her hands.

"Eh?"

"In return, I want you to be my exclusive smith!" She blurted out.

"...What do you mean?"

"Whenever you return from battle, come over here and let me repair your equipment. Every day, from now on." Her heartbeat was beating so hard that she worried that Sefton could hear it from where he stood. Her cheeks were red - no, her whole face was probably red.

Sefton tilted his head as he looked at Lizbeth. He realized what she was implying, and his face also reddened considerably.

Lizbeth mustered everything she had as she took a step towards Sefton. The paladin was rooted on the spot, unsure of what to do. "Sefton...I…" She muttered, reaching for his hand, but stopping just before their hands touched.

Sefton took a deep breath. That's right. He knew what to do, he was just too afraid to go with it. Lizbeth already made her move, so it's right to meet her halfway.

He slowly moved his hand and held Lizbeth's.

Lizbeth's eyes widened. Sefton holding her hand gave her enough strength to carry on. "I...I love you, Sefton." She finally said.

Without needing to think, Sefton came closer and wrapped her other arm around her body. "I…I love you too." He whispered.

 _ *****  
Loading...Complete  
*****_

 _To: Nairi_

 _Liz is safe. She was just stuck in a dungeon. I'll be returning to base in a bit._

Asuna nodded as she sent her brief message. She breathed a sigh of relief as she was able to finally track her friend who had gone missing.

Behind her, two players were hunched close together and were whispering to themselves.

"Ehh~ seriously?" Sachi snickered silently.

"Yeah, seriously." Kirito replied, grinning.

The KoB fencer turned around and frowned slightly. She felt like a knot was tightening inside her stomach. The girl was Sachi, a member of an affiliate guild. She had been meaning to introduce herself to her, but she was busy with her own duties.

What Asuna didn't expect was that Sachi appeared to be pretty close to Kirito. For as long as she had known him, he usually played solo and avoided joining guilds. Despite his distant exterior, she knew for a fact that Kirito was kind and caring. She often wondered why he avoided guilds. While there still some detractors concerning Beaters, she felt that he had more reasons as to why he's keeping to himself.

She watched the two banter, and it made her feel anxious. It was like Kirito was slipping away from her. The usually headstrong KoB Sub-Commander hung her head down and silently looked at her shoes.

Unbeknownst to Asuna, Sachi knew of Asuna's situation and decided to ease her worries. "Can you get us some tea, Kirito-kun?" Sachi asked.

"Tea?" Kirito frowned.

"There's a cafe a few blocks over that direction. Come on~ get us some tea, alright?" She replied as she put her hands on his back and pushed him forward ever so slightly.

"Okay, okay, I'll find some, I'll find some." He sighed as he walked away from them.

"And now that he's gone…" Sachi muttered before turning to face Asuna. "So...Asuna-san, is Kirito-kun doing well in the front lines?"

"He's doing fine...w-wait, why are you asking me?" Asuna asked, flustered.

"Well, you party up with him more than anybody." Sachi replied.

"O-oh." Asuna stammered.

"Yeah. It kinda gives people some rumors."

"I-I don't like him or anything like that!" Asuna blurted out as she panicked.

"..." Sachi was surprised for a moment, and her lips curved into a slight smile. "There was a rumor that he's a secret KoB member." Her smile widened mischievously. "I didn't say anything about liking him, though." She pointed out.

"..ah!" Asuna covered her mouth as she gasped, her face turning into a vibrant shade of pink. "~~~~"

"Hehe." Sachi giggled. Looks like her hunch was right. Ever since the Cats came to the front lines, she would look at Kirito whenever he was present in a meeting. He and Asuna were always there, either giving insight to the progress of the Clearers or bickering about every minuscule detail.

The spearwoman observed their numerous spiels. To the usual onlooker, it seemed that the two were always one step away from settling their disputes with blades, which, to be fair, did happen once.

However, as the final week of April went by, she saw some changes. It was small at first, but it grew more noticeable for her as time passed. Kirito, the ever-solitary Beater, was being more and more involved in giving his thoughts to the clearing group. Asuna was still as strict and as thorough as ever, but she became more...approachable. The two would still have heated discussions, but more often than not, they would come up with another solution together that would turn out to be better than either of their previous solutions.

Sachi walked closer to Asuna and gently grasped her hands. "I don't know if you've noticed it or not, but Kirito-kun has slowly changed because of his interactions with you. He's like a brother to me and he's been through a lot, so take care of him, alright?" Sachi asked.

And just like that, the stern Sub-Commander of the KoB flashed a genuine, radiant smile as she nodded. _I see, like a brother…_ Asuna thought, the unpleasant feeling quickly dispersing. "You can count on me." She replied confidently.

Sachi nodded back. "Let's go catch up top Kirito-kun." She said.

A short distance away, a certain black-clothed swordsman sneezed.

"Achoo!" He rubbed the back of his head. Then, he sighed and looked at the sky.

Considering everything that happened, the trip went pretty well. Dragons were killed, the rare metal was found.

And nobody died.

He didn't show it - or at least he assumed that he didn't - but he was wracked with a lingering nervousness ever since they teleported to the 55th Floor. There he was again, hunting monsters with people he cared a lot about.

But then, they lived. Not only that, they as a team sliced and diced the dragon into dust, collected the rare metal, and rode off into the sunlight.

Well, maybe it was because he was partied with a very promising tank and one of the strongest solo player in SAO.

He shook his head. He might have avoided a repeat this time, but he must remain ever vigilant.

But for now, he was facing something equally as important.

"...what am I looking for again…?" He muttered under his breath. "Oh yeah." He nodded as he went to buy coffee.

 _ *****  
Loading...Complete  
*****_

The sun shone brightly on Lizbeth and Sefton as they walked near the walls that surrounded Lindarth. Large trees stood silently just before the walls, and they entered one of the tree's shades.

"This is my little secret place." Lizbeth remarked. "Ever since I went to this Floor, I always found this part of the city to to very relaxing, especially when I'm overwhelmed."

It was on the side of the city walls. A nearby arching bridge stood perpendicularly over a water canal. A marble path connected this area to the other parts of Lindarth while the rest of the ground was covered by short, green grass. The stone wall and the bridge were slightly overgrown with grass and the pristine water gleamed brightly under the sun conveying a sense of comforting silence.

"I see...yes, it's pretty calming in here." Sefton said quietly before taking a deep breath. "Liz...I'd like to come clean."

"With what?" She asked.

"...a close friend of mine died, and I couldn't do anything but watch. Since then, I've become obsessed with protecting. So much so that I unconsciously wished for people to get hurt just so I can save them. But when you were falling, I just froze up. Kirito had to dive in and snap me out." Sefton shook his head. "In the end, I couldn't save anyone on my own…" He trailed off as he looked away.

Lizbeth silently stood up and came closer to Sefton. He unconsciously took a step back, fearful of what would happen next. Instead, Lizbeth did something that he didn't expect.

She reached forward and took his hand with both of hers. "...thank you, Sefton."

"W...why? After what I said, why are you thanking me?"

"Tell me, is my hand warm?" She asked.

"...it is." Sefton replied.

"...for the longest time...everything in SAO felt...unreal. Unreal...and irrelevant. I tried to bury my feelings away with my work, but it didn't work. I was looking for something. Something real..." Her shoulders started shaking. "Your hand...it's so very, very warm. For the first time since I was trapped in this death game, it made me feel... _alive._ " She rasped. "Whatever excuses or circumstances you had, in the end, you still saved me. Thank you, not only for catching me when I fell, but also for proving to me that we can _live_ in this virtual world. So, thank you."

"Liz..." Sefton could also feel his voice cracking.

"Sefton…" She muttered. "Until this game ends...I'll work hard. So...keep yourself safe, alright?" She said, her voice cracking as she whimpered.

Sefton squeezed her hand. "I promise."

Lizbeth sniffed and smiled. "I might have some shortcomings, but I hope that we can take care of each other."

Sefton grinned. "Likewise."

They spent a few minutes holding hands as they sat on the ground and admired the glimmering water. Finally, Lizbeth turned to Sefton. "Let's go have something to eat. I'm starving."

 _ *****  
Chapter End  
*****_

 **A/N:** Well, that's done. It's not as cheesy and squee-inducing as chapter 14, but I like how it turned out.

Sefton was actually supposed to be an arrogant 'tough guy' who's all talk and bolts the second he's in mortal danger. I didn't like how it turned out, so I wrote him this way instead - naive, childish and selfish but stalwart, friendly and reliable. A more traditional knight in shining armor, but has his own quirks and flaws as well. I was glad that I did that.

Also, 100k words! Ayyy.

I'm gonna ramble on a bit for this part. Sometimes I feel that Riwet resembles another person, particularly the SMT Persona 3 Protag (Or at least, when he is given a personality. I played him as a cheerful person) because of his reserved personality, association with the color blue, etc.

I've come to the realization that it's not a good idea to change my OC's personality just for the sake of avoiding a perceived resemblance. As long as s/he isn't a blatant ripoff, there's little issues in having them remind us of someone else.

In the end, we're only human, after all.

We're only human, after all.

Don't put the blame on us.

 _Don't put the blame on us~_

...

O~OH! SOME PEO-

…

*Ahem* sorry.

That's all for now. Thank you very much, and have a good one.


	19. CH 18 - Calm Days

Chapter 18 - Calm Days

 _June 25, 2024_

Nightmares used to be a frequent occurrence to Silica. While each one was slightly different from the other, they were all so very terrifying.

Sometimes, it was her who was running away from a pack of deadly monsters. In her haste to get away, she would fall into a pitfall trap with spikes lining the very bottom. The nightmare would end a split second after she was impaled by the spikes. Other times, she would relive Pina's horrifying death, but she tried her best to change it. She would be successful in deflecting in the Drunk Ape's attack and destroying its club, but that only made it worse as the monster would just tear Pina apart with its bare hands.

The nightmares would become less frequent as she spent more time training and becoming more confident in her abilities, but one particularly horrifying dream made her wake up gasping, caked in cold sweat.

She was lying face-down on the ground, stunned. She turned her head. Riwet was front of her, defending her from a giant monster obscured by a dark, billowing aura. The monster should have been a manageable fight but it turned into a desperate struggle since the attacks would hit Silica if Riwet dodged, forcing him to block every single devastating blow.

Feeling started to come back to Silica's body. Mustering all the strength that she could, she slowly picked herself off the ground.

She panicked when she saw that Riwet fumbled under the assault, his glaive sent away from his hands. She kicked off and rushed towards him.

But it didn't matter.

The dream would end abruptly with Riwet shouting at her to look away and run as the monster raised its hand to deliver the killing blow.

As varied as they were, the nightmares had one horrifying thing in common.

It was all her fault.

And no matter what she did, she couldn't do anything to stop it.

Everytime she had a nightmare, she would try her best to calm herself down and not let it get to her. Maybe take a bath and drink something warm while cuddling Pina. The only good thing about this situation was that Silica forgot most of her nightmares anyway.

However, this dream was quite different.

In her dream, Silica woke up in her room in the real world. She got up and stretched before she opened her window.

A pleasantly vibrant scene greeted her. The morning sun shone bright and the clouds were sparse, making way for the clear blue sky. A flock of birds flew together and disappeared into the horizon.

It seemed like every aspect of the world was glittering.

Well, except for one, that is.

Something caught Silica's eyes. There was a house in the distance. From where she could see, it appeared to be pretty simple. Its size was just big enough to comfortably house a family.

At first glance, nothing unusual stood out. And yet, she was inexplicably drawn to this house.

But before could ponder any longer, she woke up in her house on the 47th Floor of Sword Art Online.

She yawned as she stretched her limbs and sat up to the side of the bed, her feet touching the carpeted floor. Pina, curled up on the bed, also yawned and flapped her wings.

She didn't quite understand what she dreamt about, and she felt a pang of sadness as she remembered the real world, but she would prefer it over any nightmare.

After waking herself up, Silica changed into her hunting equipment and tied her hair into twin tails.

She drew out her Ebon Dagger and glanced at her reflection in the blade.

Riwet was joining her for today.

Ever since she met him, Silica would often send messages to him, asking him for training advice and his insight on the clearing effort.

Her heart skipped a beat when Riwet suggested that he should come over and meet with her in person to see how she's been progressing.

She finally mustered the courage to take his offer yesterday. He replied almost immediately, saying that he'll be able to go whenever she wanted. After replying that she'll need a day, she devoted the rest of yesterday training and mentally preparing herself.

A Clearer went out of his way to coach her in person. She made sure that she wouldn't screw it up.

Pina flew close and perched on her master's shoulder. Silica gave her partner a resolute nod before they headed out.

She arrived at the Teleport Gates of Floria, 15 minutes early. She calmed her nerves as she patiently waited for Riwet to show up.

At 5 minutes before their meeting time, the Gate glowed, and a familiar figure materialized as the light disappeared.

"Riwet! Over here!" Silica waved at him.

Riwet looked over to where she was and smiled as he walked towards her. "Good morning, Silica." He greeted her. He was wearing his usual dark blue coat, with a glaive sheathed on his back. He was wearing slightly thicker gauntlets on his right arm compared to his left.

"Good morning, Riwet!" She replied with a warm smile.

Pina hovered closer to Riwet. "'Sup." he smiled at her before turning his attention back to Silica. "How have you been doing?"

"I think Pina and I are making good progress!" She replied enthusiastically.

Riwet nodded approvingly. "That's great."

The glaive wielder elaborated on their game plan for today as they teleported to the 49th Floor. This Floor had a lot of monsters and chests that gave a lot of good loot. The front lines were at the 63rd Floors, and the bulk of the mid-level players weren't quite at the level to farm this Floor, so the current player count was fairly sparse. Enough loot to go around for the players present on the Floor.

Their mission was to gather enough materials for Silica to upgrade her equipment and for Riwet to sell. Also, Riwet mentioned something about letting her meet a couple of people that could help her.

The two of them moved away from the city and into hostile territory. Eventually, they came across a pair of Lizardman Squires. Humanoid in size and shape but mostly lizard-like, the monsters had dark green skin, a short tail, and dim red eyes. They were equipped with a leather cuirass and a short sword on their right hands.

"Leave these monsters to me." Silica said to Riwet.

He tilted his head. "You sure?" He asked. Silica nodded confidently. "...alright. I'll step in when it gets out of hand." He said as he stepped back.

Silica smiled at her for a moment before turning her attention to the unaware monsters. Without missing a beat, she drew her knife and activated Rapid Bite, her sprint augmented by the Weapon Skill. She scored a direct hit, toppling the Squire to the ground.

"Pina, Bubble Breath." She muttered. Pina flew closer to the other Squire and breathed a stream of bubbles to the monster, stunning it still. After recovering from her post-motion delay, she quickly went to it and took a stance, activating Accel Raid. After taking a moment, she unleashed a flurry of extremely accurate stabs with her Knife, all targeted towards the monster's head. Needless to say, the target was obliterated.

Accel Raid was a high-level Weapon Skill that was extremely damaging but left the user open when they were about to cast it.

Good thing she's got Pina.

The dragon tamer rushed towards the other Lizardman Squire as it picked itself up. The monster raised its sword to strike.

Two months after she revived Pina, Silica aqcuired a unique skill called Draconic Bond. Aside from giving unique properties to some of her skills, it gave Silica 20% damage reduction from all sources and Pina a whopping _80%_ damage reduction from all sources.

"Seiya!" With a shout, Silica unleashed Twin Assault. Her Ebon Dagger glowed as she made two hefty stabs at her target. Normally, the skill was decent, with good range and power.

Draconic Bond's modification to Twin Assault made it her favorite Weapon Skill to use. As she hit her target, her knife glowed even brighter as small, blue, feather-shaped particles dispersed into the air and floated gently as it disintegrated mid-air. The Lizardman Squire crumbled and died under the Skill's might.

Aside from the cosmetic changes, Twin Assault's damage was increased by 50%, and the post-motion delay halved. While it might not be as powerful as Accel Raid, she could move almost immediately afterward. Perfect for repositioning or repeated use.

In honor of her familiar, she gave her Draconic Bond-modified Twin Assault Weapon Skill another name -

Draconic Assault.

"Fuu…" The dragon tamer sighed as she sheathed her Knife. Pina flew close and perched on her right shoulder. "Good job." Silica said she scratched her dragon's cheek.

"You've been progressing well. Great job." Riwet praised her.

"Thank you." She replied, relieved that she didn't screw anything up.

They ventured further into the area, fighting monsters along the way. Silica noticed that Riwet was using his right hand and feet prominently. He was probably using his opportunity to practice his Unarmed combat and Martial Arts.

A Lizardman Squire roared and charged against the glaive wielder. Riwet ducked under the attack and countered with a powerful right-handed uppercut to the stomach. As the monster reeled back in pain, he unleashed an extremely fast roundhouse kick, targeting the Lizardman's legs. Silica could feel the impact from where she stood - the sound was like a whip cracking. The monster suddenly found itself missing the bottom part of its legs as it cartwheeled away from Riwet and disintegrated.

As always, his attacks were no-nonsense and efficient. He had gotten even more powerful between the time she met him.

"Nice work." Silica remarked.

"Thanks. I've been practicing on using my offhand and limbs for quite a while now." Riwet replied as he slapped dirt out of his pants. "Well, there's more where that came from. Let's go."

They continued on hunting monsters and training. They went off the beaten path a bit, just going with the flow.

Eventually, they came upon a hole on the side of a mountain.

"I don't have map data of this dungeon." Silica remarked, confused.

"Neither do I." Riwet added. "It's an Emergent Dungeon." As far as Silica knew, Emergent Dungeons was a term used by the players to describe dungeons that 'emerged' from a previously charted area of a Floor.

"Should we check it out?" Silica asked.

"Not sure. But first…" Riwet looked behind them. "Argo."

A figure emerged from the shadows. "Yo, Ricchan. I guess that I won't be able to sneak up on you anymore, huh?"

"I thought we were supposed to meet in the city."

"Yeah, but I got curious." Argo replied, eyeing the two.

Silica looked at Riwet, asking him for answers.

"Her name's Argo. She's an information broker." He explained. "One of the people I wanted you to meet."

"Nice to meet you, Argo-san." Silica bowed.

"Nice to meet you too, Dragon Master Silica." Argo smiled. Silica was about to ask how she was able to know her name, but the dragon perched on her shoulder was kind of a dead giveaway.

Argo stepped forward and explained her services. Silica would be able to benefit from most of what had to offer, she felt hesitant about buying other players' info.

Riwet chimed in. "You can just buy your own info and get a feel of what kind of info on you is out there."

"Well, that's one way to use it. So, how about it?" Argo asked.

"...Okay." Silica nodded, sending Argo a friend request.

"Nice." Argo grinned. "Tell you what, I'll give you a freebie for today." She opened her Player Menu and shared her the details of a Quest.

"Fountain of Effervescence…?" Silica muttered.

"When I was in the city, I overhead two NPC merchants gossiping about a fountain that spouts a miraculous drink. They said some cryptic nonsense to hide the location, but I was able to track it to here.

Riwet's brows furrowed. "Do you have any details on this dungeon?"

"I've only checked the area near the entrance. The monsters there are similar to the ones found on the early Labyrinth levels. Crystals are usable. Here." Argo said as she shared her map data to the two.

"Got it. So you want us to go and check it out?" Riwet asked.

"And share me the completed map data. And also a cupful of whatever this so-called "Fountain of Effervescence" holds." The broker looked at Silica. "So, you in?"

A sense of adventure coursed through Silica. It was her first chance at traveling through uncharted territory. While she was also slightly afraid of what she would face, she was sure that they would succeed as long as they remain careful.

Nodding to herself, the dragon tamer stepped forward. "I accept."

Argo grinned. "Alright. I got something to do now. I hope I'll hear from you two soon." She said as she waved them goodbye and went on her way.

"Should we find a party?" Riwet suggested as he moved from his spot and came closer to Silica.

Silica breathed sharply. "No...um...can we try going to it with just the two of us?" She asked. "I still want to find out how further I can go."

Riwet stared at her for a moment, then finally nodded slowly. "Understandable. Let's take a moment to check our healing items." They checked and found that they still had a lot of healing items. "I'll take point. Let's go." Silica nodded and they both walked to the entrance of the dungeon.

Argo was right. Monsters here were visibly tougher than the ones they faced earlier. But Silica wouldn't give up. She wanted to prove to everyone - especially to herself - that she can grow even more powerful.

She made a lot of progress ever since Pina was revived, and she enjoyed the results. Ever since Riwet invited Silica to team up, all she wanted to do was show off how much she improved. Fortunately, she spent quite some time reigning in her emotions. Never again should her brash actions hurt the ones she cared for.

Another group of monsters fell to their blades, and Riwet stretched his limbs. "And another one done. You alright there, Silica?" He said as he turned to face her.

Silica glanced at her HUD. Both her and Pina's HP were unharmed. "Yes!" She nodded confidently. She took a deep breath and made sure to remember her fights so that afterward she could try to figure out what she could've done more efficiently.

Truth be told, she was feeling the first pangs of fatigue. But the took a deep breath and shook the feeling off. She can do this.

They ventured further into the dungeon, scanning the environment for hidden treasure chests and traps while fighting the monsters there. Eventually, they found a hidden area tucked away on the side. The area was about the size of a basketball court. It was empty, aside from a chest sitting in the center.

A few months ago, Silica would have just Scanned the area and open the chest when she found no traps. However, her instincts were screaming from the back of her head.

 _It's not safe here._

She scanned the area again - nothing. She took out a crystal - still usable. She checked the previous area for a possible ambush - nothing.

Beside her, Riwet nodded approvingly at her actions.

Silica turned to him. "There's something off about this area, but I don't know what…"

"Can't blame you. We usually encounter this kind of stuff on uncharted territory. Still, your thoroughness is pretty impressive. Nice job."

"Thank you...wait, you know what's wrong?" She asked.

He nodded. "Take a look at the chest."

She stared at it for a moment. She noticed that the chest was slowly, very slightly opening and closing.

The chest was _breathing_.

 _A Mimic?!_ She realized. "Eh? B-but I've never seen a Mimic like that!" She exclaimed. The Mimics she encountered before had pretty obvious giveaways, like it being off-color or moving a lot more.

"Like I said earlier, uncharted territory. When a Mimic is met for the first time, they look and behave differently. They're also a bit stronger. But hey, look at the bright side. Stealth Mimics are guaranteed to drop rare loot."

"Ooh..." Silica cooed. "So what's our plan?"

"We kill the Mimic." Riwet declared. "As far as we know, other than having more HP and stronger attacks, Stealth Mimics are identical to normal Mimics. You've faced Mimics before, yes?" He asked. Silica nodded, and he smiled. "Shall we?"

Silica grinned back as she nodded, and they walked side by side. They stopped in front of the chest and prepared to unleash their strongest Weapon Skills. They started and ended their skill simultaneously, shaving off a quarter of the Mimic's health instantly.

The Mimic was blown away and knocked on its back. The chest opened, revealing rows of large, jagged teeth lining the inside. Two large clawed arms burst from the side, and three small tentacle-like appendages sprouted from the bottom.

Pina followed up with Bubble Breath, stunning it even further. The two of them recovered from their delay and prepared for combat.

The Mimic got up and slithered to where they stood. It raised its left arm and swung. Silica jumped back, cautiously feeling out the monster's attack pattern. Riwet darted to the side, dodging the attack by mere inches as he brandished his glaive for a counterattack. The monster screamed in agony as two deep gashes in the shape of an X marred the back of its hand.

 _ *******_  
 _ **Cue Music: Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance OST - Rules Of Nature**_  
 _ *******_

As the battle dragged on, Silica felt more and more agitated. She started remembering her nightmare with Riwet, and her movements became dull and sluggish.

"SILICA, LOOK OUT!" Riwet's frantic scream shook her out of her trance, and she tried her damnedest to dodge a direct hit from the Mimic.

"Gh!" While she was able to block a direct hit, the impact sent her flying, and she felt like the wind was forced out of her lungs as she hit the ground and rolled, stopping face-down on the ground.

The Mimic shifted its attention towards her and charged, only to be stopped by Riwet rushing in between. "Silica! Are you alright?! Please tell me that you're alright!"

With herculean effort, Silica forced herself to speak. "I...I'm alright!" She rasped. Pina came towards her and used Healing Breath. Her HP wasn't even close to being in the yellow zone, but the impact stunned her.

"Hang in there, Silica! It's gonna be alright!"

 _No._ Silica thought, her mind flashing to her nightmare once more. Her body burned hot. She forced herself to stand up. _No! I won't have it! NO!_

She got up to a kneeling position, and her eyes widened as she saw Riwet's glaive flying away from his hands.

"Run away, Silica!" Riwet screamed as he crossed his arms in front of him.

"NO!" Silica roared as she charged _towards the Mimic._

 _ ****RULES OF NATURE****_

"RAAAGH!" She activated Rapid Bite and slammed it on the monster's gaping mouth, sending it flying.

Riwet sprinted and retrieved his glaive before running back to Silica. "That was a bit reckless for both of us." He remarked before looking at the mimic and scowling. "Let's finish this up."

Silica nodded as they rushed to the monster. "Pina!" She shouted.

Pina flew closer and stunned the Mimic with Bubble Breath.

"Seiya!" Silica unleashed Draconic Assault.

"...!" With a sharp breath, Riwet unleashed his favorite Weapon Skill, Pale Derision.

The Stealth Mimic was filled with two large holes and cut into four pieces before disintegrating.

 _ *******_  
 _ **Music End**_  
 _ *******_

"Alright!" Riwet cheered. He turned to face Silica. "Nice work, Silica!...Silica?" He said worriedly. "Silica!" He shouted as he ran towards her.

"Hah…" Her knees gave out. "Haaah...haah…" Her breathing was ragged, and she felt light-headed. She squeezed her eyes shut and forced herself to calm down. _It's over. Calm down...calm down…_ But no matter how hard she tried, her temples pounded like drums on her head.

Silica gasped when she felt a hand touch her head. She opened her eyes and looked up. Riwet was kneeling next to her with a worried expression on his face as he slowly patted her hair. "It's alright. It's alright. The monster's deader than dead. Relax. Breathe..." He said gently.

"Haaah...haaah…" Silica nodded and breathed deeply. Gradually, her shaking subsided, and a pleasant feeling enveloped her. "Haahh…" She sighed comfortably.

"Have you calmed down?" Riwet asked.

"No...just a bit more..." She replied with a smile. "Ehehe~" She was already calm, but she wanted him to pat her head for just a bit longer. Usually, she would blush madly and be all flustered, but this time she just felt pleasant and at ease. She looked at Riwet and realized that he had also started smiling.

"Should we teleport out and rest for a bit?" Riwet offered.

Silica shook her head. "We're almost done mapping this dungeon, so…"

"...alright. Let's at least go to a safe zone."

They broke away after a few minutes. Riiwet held his hand out. "High five?" Silica held out her hand and clapped it with his. "Nice. It got a bit too intense back there, but good job nonetheless." He opened his Player Menu and inspected their loot. "Hmm...I got some pretty cool stuff I could sell, but nothing really that I could use. You got something good?" He asked.

Silica opened her Player Menu. "Ah!" She exclaimed as she withdrew the rare item she got. It was a Radiant Hairclip - a fairly small hairclip with a flower design on its end. The flower was made out of a vibrant blue stone. The accessory gave pretty good bonuses in DEX and AGI.

She put it on, clipping it on the left side of her forehead. "H-how does it look?" She asked.

Riwet gave a slight smile as he nodded. "Looks good on you." He said. Silica felt her face heat up. She returned the smile before she looked away and scratched her cheek.

As they were about to exit the area, Silica noticed that Riwet stopped and turned. "Riwet? What's wrong?" She asked.

"Hmm…" Riwet walked to the center of the area and crouched. He was observing the spot that the Chest used to stand on.

The spot lit up, and the area rumbled. "Wh-what?!" Silica said anxiously.

One of the walls further from them opened, revealing a secret passage. "Placing a decoy chest to hide a switch...pretty clever." Riwet muttered. "There's more to this place. Let's go." He said.

They entered the area, and Silica had to suppress a gasp. The area was twice as large as the one they previously were. The dark cavernous walls and floor of the Dungeon were replaced with smooth, turquoise marble.

At the center of the room laid a fountain. It had a Western tiered design and was fairly large - like the ones Silica saw at shopping malls. Instead of clear water, the fountain was spouting a dark, translucent ichor. The area was also a Safe Zone.

"Jackpot." Riwet grinned. They walked closer and inspected the fountain.

"What do you think this is?" Silica asked as she leaned to look at the liquid.

Riwet materialized a cup. "Only one way to find out." He went closer to the fountain and scooped the liquid into his cup. "Hmm...it's name is 'Effervescent Drink'...cryptic description...doesn't look poisonous…" He muttered as he brought it closer to his nose. "...wait, is this…?" He took a sip. He smiled and took a big gulp. A couple of seconds pass, and he had already emptied the cup. "Ahh…" He sighed.

"...Riwet?" Silica muttered.

He started chuckling "...It's root beer. Heheh….it's _root beer!_ " He exclaimed.

"Root...beer?" Silica repeated.

"You don't know what root beer is?" Riwet asked incredulously. "Come on, try it." He urged.

Silica also took a cup out and scooped the so-called 'root beer'. She held it close to face and smelled it. Her eyebrows furrowed when a strong, sweet, medicine-like smell assaulted her senses.

She looked over to Riwet and saw him scooping for a second cup. Nodding to herself, she brought her cup to her lips and took a big sip.

"!" Its taste was as overwhelming as its smell. It was really sweet with a really weird flavor, reminding her once again of medicine. It also had a harsh, fizzy texture similar to soft drinks. She narrowed her eyes as she swallowed. "...gah! *cough* *cough*... Wh-what..? …*hic!*" She made a small hiccup. She also turned to the side and made a small burp.

"It's an acquired taste, so I wouldn't blame you." He chuckled before he put his hand on his mouth and burped. "Excuse me. Anyways, this isn't much of a 'curative drink', even though it tastes like medicine. Tastes awesome with a bacon sandwich or a pizza, though." He opened his Player Menu and looked at his stats. "I don't see any buffs on my stats, but it might be something more subtle."

Riwet glanced at Silica. "Since this is a safe zone, let's rest here for a bit." He said. Silica nodded gratefully. They sat on the ground and made small talk. "Oh, before I forget…" He muttered as he went to the fountain. Aside from filling a flask for Argo, Riwet also pulled out a whole keg and filled it to the brim with the liquid. Silica wondered how he could even drink the stuff.

After their rest, they went and finished mapping the dungeon before meeting up with Argo. She sounded a bit disappointed that the Effervescent Drink was nothing more than a carbonated drink, but she thanked them regardless.

After that, they went to a smith shop on the 47th Floor for repairs and upgrades. The blacksmith there, Lizbeth, greeted them warmly. "Welcome, Riwet!"

"Heyo." He greeted back. "Repairs and upgrades, please."

"Sure thing."

Silica stepped forward and bowed. "I'm Silica. Nice to meet you, Lizbeth-san."

"Nice to meet you too, Silica-chan." The blacksmith smiled.

They spent the next half hour inside the shop, with Silica conversing with Lizbeth as the blacksmith fixed their stuff. The dragon tamer had a lot of fun talking to the pink-haired blacksmith. Silica also sent a friend request to her, in which she happily accepted.

"Thank you very much for today." Silica bowed. "I hope we see each other again soon, Lizbeth-san."

Lizbeth gave a slight salute. "Likewise, Silica-chan." Her smile widened mischievously. "And I hope the best for you and Riwet."

Silica's face turned red. Ever so slightly. That's right, ever so slightly.

"Hey." Riwet chimed in. Also, it might be just Silica's imagination, but she could see that his cheeks had a slight tinge of pink.

"Payback for last time." The pink-haired blacksmith snickered.

The sun was already setting when the two silently exited the shop. Because of what Lizbeth said earlier, the atmosphere became awkward between them. Still, as Silica looked down and away from Riwet, she found herself unable to stop smiling.

"...Let's have dinner." Riwet finally said.

"..." Silica wordlessly nodded.

They Teleported to the 35th Floor and made their way towards the Weathercock Pavilion.

But then, tragedy struck.

" _What do you mean, closed?"_ Riwet asked the NPC receptionist. He looked calm, but he sounded nowhere near calm. The NPC replied that the restaurant closed early today for renovations. Riwet was crestfallen. "Bacon…goes well with root beer..." He muttered, devoid of any emotion. He strolled to the corner and squatted. Pina flew over and perched on Riwet's shoulder, nuzzling her head on his cheek in an effort to comfort him. His only response was a dejected sigh.

"Can't we find another restaurant?" Silica asked, trying to cheer him up.

"I don't know any other restaurants that serve bacon as good as this restaurant. Unless…" He turned to Silica, his face hopeful. "Do you know another place?"

Silica took a step back. She was about to say that she didn't, but the almost childish look in his eyes made her feel like she was crushing a young child's dreams. The dragon tamer got too caught up in the moment and just blurted out whatever solution she had. "I-I can cook it for you! I have bacon at my house!" She all but shouted out.

"...eh?" Riwet said, tilting his head to the side.

"...eh?" Silica replied, tilting her head to the side. After a moment of thinking, Silica finally realized what she had just said, and her face flushed pink. "Ah!..eh...u-um...s-so…" She stammered.

"Is it really okay? I mean, surely you're tired of all the hunting we did. We should just get food at some other place so you can rest. There's always tomorrow." Riwet replied.

Silica took a deep breath and calmed herself down as she shook her head. "It's payment for you helping me for today." She smiled.

"I don't know...you really should get some rest." Riwet said hesitantly.

"I don't know...bacon goes well with root beer~" Silica retorted. Riwet sighed and relented.

They teleported to Floria on the 47th Floor. She led him to her house. "Come in, come in~" She said as she opened the door and entered her house.

"Sorry for intruding~" Riwet said as he entered.

Silica's house was a fairly small two-floor building. On the ground floor was a small living room with a good view of a nearby mountain. The next room was a dining room with a table that could comfortably seat 4 people, followed by a small kitchen. On the side was a bathroom, and close by was a staircase leading to the upper floor, which consisted of a master's bedroom, a study, and a guest bedroom.

"Nice place you got here." Riwet remarked.

"Yeah. This isn't that close to the city center and I got a deal on the price, so the monthly payments are pretty cheap." She replied.

"Nice."

Silica sat Riwet down to the dining room. "Any requests?" She asked as Pina laid on the table.

"You got any rice?" Riwet asked back. "Then...crispy fried bacon strips on plain fried rice."

"That's it?" She replied. The dish was almost too simple.

"Perfection doesn't need improvement." He stated with a smile.

Silica returned the smile and nodded before she went to the kitchen, refusing any offers of help from Riwet. He didn't feel right by just sitting there, so he elected to sweep the floor while Silica was cooking, and he wouldn't take no for an answer.

She steeled herself as she equipped an apron and went about cooking. She followed Riwet's request to the letter, resisting the urge to add something just so she could show off her Cooking skills. She could hear the faint sounds of a broom sweeping. _This is nice._ She thought, giggling. Him cleaning and her cooking.

They ate heartily, with Silica and Riwet eating the dish while Pina ate on a small bowl filled with her favorite peanuts. The mood was light and warm, with Silica and Riwet sharing their amusing stories to each other.

When they finished eating, Silica stood up to wash the dishes, offering Riwet to sit on the couch and sort out his stuff before he left.

When she was done with the dishes, Silica went to Riwet. "Sorry for the wait, Riw-" She stopped mid sentence as she looked at him, and her lips curled into a warm smile.

"..." Riwet was passed out sleeping as he sat on the sofa. She could almost hear his quiet breaths as his chest rose and fell.

"Ehehe..." Silica giggled softly at the scene. He looked so comfortable sleeping there. _Well, I guess he could stay over_. She shrugged.

"Pina…!" She called to her familiar as the dragon flew over and snuggled on his lap. _Must be nice…_ The dragon tamer pouted.

...

… _.I guess I could also- No! I shouldn't!_

As if sensing her master's unease, Pina started purring comfortably, dozing off as well.

 _..._

Silica sat down next to Riwet, her face incandescent. She slowly leaned her body to Riwet's shoulder, but her hair ornaments pressed painfully on the side of her head. She removed them except for her hairpin and leaned her body again.

…

…

 _So comfortable…_

...

…

 _I should get away and let him sleep comfortably._

 _..._

 _Okay, fine. Just for a bit._

Silica stifled a yawn and felt her eyelids becoming heavier. She closed her eyes and sighed.

 _It's fine, it's fine, it's fine._

Just before she fell asleep, she felt Riwet shift. Opening her eyes slightly, she realized that Riwet had unconsciously wrapped his arm behind her. She would later thank- _blame-_ her half-asleep mind for her response, which was to hug him and not let go.

…

 _It's fine. Just a bit more…_

...

 _A bit more…_

 _..._

Silica had that unusual dream again. Only this time, she resolved to go out and go to the house.

As she thought, it was pretty normal from the outside, but something drew her closer.

She walked to the front of the door and knocked. No response. She turned the knob and found that it was unlocked. She gave it a push. The door opened slightly, but it suddenly stopped. There was still a chain lock holding the door.

She gave a disappointed pout before she turned around and leaned her back to the door.

The door felt...pleasant.

She wondered if it would ever fully open for her.

As she lost herself in her thoughts, she didn't notice that a figure from inside the house was curiously staring at her.

 _ *****  
**_ _ **Loading…Complete  
**_ _ **Changing Perspective: Riwet  
**_ _ *******_

The first thing I heard was the chirping of birds. Even when my eyes were closed, I could sense the early morning light. For the first time in a long while, I was half awake but didn't want to wake up just yet.

Why am I feeling so comfortable?

Maybe because my pillow felt a thousand times more comfortable than usual.

I took a deep breath as I tightened my hug on it. I unconsciously smiled as I felt it hug back.

Wait a minute. Since when did pillows hug back?

I opened my eyes, and I was treated to something amazing. Silica was asleep as she sat next to me to my left, her head leaning on my chest. My left arm was wrapped around her waist and my left hand rested on her stomach, and her arms were hugging my body. I could feel her moving as she breathed, her body rising and falling rhythmically.

Her hair was left untied, flowing just below her shoulders. Her hairclip was hanging from the side of her bangs. It was the first time that I saw her with her hair down. Since it was right in front of my face, I smelled her hair every time I took a breath. It smelled really good. It was nothing like I've ever smelled before, but I don't go around smelling other people's hair, so that's that.

My eyes wandered to her face. Her eyes were closed comfortably. Her mouth was slightly open as she breathed.

Inevitably, I found myself staring at her lips. It looked so soft, and moved ever so slightly every time she took a breath.

Maybe I should touch her lips to feel how soft it i-

 _Hey, you listening?_ Yup. _Head. Out of gutter. ASAP._

Yessir.

Clearing my head, I gently tried to wiggle out of her grasp. It didn't work - her grip was firm, and I couldn't bring myself to forcefully shove my arms away from her. It's good that she isn't neglecting on putting some stats on STR even if she's focused on speed.

I reached out with my right hand, patting her head and gently ruffling her hair. "Silica...it's morning…" I said soothingly to her. Just like the last time I patted her head, her hair was soft and felt nice on my hand. I just realized that Pina was snuggling my other side.

"Mn…" She gave a discontented sound as she cutely mumbled.

Okay, you win.

I let her sleep. Maybe I'll try again later. I hope I don't smell bad.

I looked up at the ceiling and tried to distract myself by thinking of the clearing effort. It's progressing pretty well. Casualties were at an all-time low, but we could make it even lower.

What else…?

…

Hmm…

"..." Silica shifted slightly. I looked at her and saw that a stray lock of hair was disturbing her. I reached out with my right hand and carefully tucked it behind her ear.

Alright, now I can concentrate...

...

Where was I again?

…

Let's recite pi. Pi is 3.14159…

…

That's all I could remember.

...

*Sigh*

Do you know how hard it is to concentrate when someone _incredibly attractive_ is cuddling you?

In the end, the challenge was too much for me. I just looked up and let my thoughts run.

As I thought about Silica, I felt a pang of pride...and uncertainty. I was proud that she had become strong. Someone you once saved now turned into someone who can take care of herself and even protect you.

And that was exactly why I was worried, because even more danger laid in wait for her.

Sometimes, I wonder if I shouldn't have encouraged her to get stronger. That I should just tell her to stay relatively in the mid-level. But with one look, she wordlessly told me that she wouldn't like that. It really surprised me that she had that kind of determination and steel in her eyes.

Well, the least I could do is support her. She's only going to get stronger, so I need to pick up the pace so I could protect her. It ain't gonna be easy.

There's a lot of things that she still needs to get used to. But for now, let's let the lady rest.

After 10 more minutes, She finally stirred and came to. "Mn…" She mumbled as she rubbed her face on my chest and tightened her hug.

"Silica...it's morning…" I said softly.

"Mn…?" She opened her eyes and looked at me dreamily. Cute…

I could see the gears turning in her head as she was slowly waking up. Her face reddened rapidly as she broke away from me. "Ah! Um...errr…" She stuttered, hanging her face down as she peeked from the gaps in her bangs.

Her flustered actions were almost too cute. I felt my face relax into a smile. "Good morning."

Her eyes widened for a moment before giving me her brightest smile. "Good morning!" Add the radiant morning sun to that, and she looked positively glowing.

I stood up and stretched my limbs. "Slept well?"

She nodded. "Yes! How about you?"

I smiled. "Yeah. Sit tight. I'll go make breakfast."

 _ *****  
Loading...Complete**_

 _ **Changing Perspective: Third Person  
*****_

"Here." Riwet said as he handed her an egg sandwich. "My Cooking Skil Proficiency isn't very high, but I hope you'll like it."

"Thank you." Silica replied. She noticed that Riwet was staring at him. "What is it, Riwet?" She asked, a faint blush forming on her cheeks.

"I like the new look." He replied.

She tilted her head before realizing that she forgot to tie her hair. "Ah!" She gasped. "Wh-why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"It suits you better, I think..." He said as he looked away, a very faint shade of pink coloring his cheeks.

"Really?" She asked meekly.

Riwet nodded instantly. "It made you twice as pretty as you already are." He said before he caught himself. He blushed as he looked away again, contemplating on what he just said.

"I see...thank you." Silica smiled, her face also fully blushing. If she learned anything from this conversation, it's that she should try letting her hair down.

After they finished eating, Silica accompanied Riwet to the Teleport Gate.

Riwet smiled at her. "You did really well yesterday. Keep up the good work, but don't overdo it, okay?" Silica nodded with a smile. "We should do this again sometime. Message me when you're free and I'll see what I can do, alright?" He offered.

Silica's smile brightened. "Yes! Thank you very much!"

And with that, they said their goodbyes as Riwet teleported back into the front lines.

Silica nodded to herself. Yesterday went pretty well. She was able to grow stronger, and also got to know more about Riwet.

She looked at the bright morning sky and hoped that this pleasant feeling would remain for just a bit more.

 *****  
Chapter End  
*****

 **A/N:** Thank you again for the review, Haruna-chan. I hope I delivered the moe on this one, even if it's right at the end.

Thank you also for the review, uqoxe24. I'm glad that you like it.

I think this chapter went pretty well. I wanted to convey three thing things in this chapter. First is that Silica and Riwet not only work well together but also enjoy each other's company.

Secondly is that they can grow as people both together and apart. I mean, I'm all about 'true lovey-dovey moe-moe' and all that song and dance, but I feel that it's also important to their character to show their independent side.

And lastly, Silica is as freaking awesome as she is cute. I think the anime didn't give her justice. The LN was a bit better, but not by much. I know that she's only 13, but she isn't helpless.

Anyways, let's move on.

I've made the decision to give Pina a female gender and will use the appropriate pronouns. I've edited Chapter 14 to reflect that.

For the romance parts of this fic, I've found what I call a "Three-act tell" format pretty good.

After I've characterized them enough (usually with the help of canon) I'll let the potential pair meet in the first act, delving on how they interact with each other. How would their individual personalities and characters go with the other? How would not yet being accustomed to the other person's presence affect them?

The second act would take place a bit later in the timeline (They can be back-to-back chapters. I just have to state that some time has passed and they spent time with each other during that period) and will focus on how their relationship would develop. Would they blossom into a relationship or a fire-forged friendship, or would they grow apart?

If they stayed together at the end of the second act, the third act would either be a feel-good romp that hooks them up, or a fun little story that makes it quite clear that they have become very good friends, even family.

Of course, their stories won't end in the third act. There's still a lot of potential to expand their stories. How would their relationship change as the story goes? Would a betrayal occur, turning the closest friends to the most bitter of enemies?

Lastly, I wanna talk about Riwet. I think he's developing well as a character. He's polite and friendly, but it takes quite a bit for him to open up. He's fine with teaming up with KoB, but he doesn't want to join. He considers Kirito a close friend, yet it took a while for him to discuss what happened on Christmas Eve.

Sure, He did open up to Silica, but only bit by bit.

Anyways, I'm still determined to make him as realistic as possible. If you find that you don't agree with some of his viewpoints, that's fine with me because no single viewpoint can appeal to everyone, so I might as well not try.

But if you find that Riwet's quirks and unusual trains of thought add up to be too unusual to be realistic, then that's a problem.

That's all for now. Thank you very much, and have a good one.


	20. CH 19 - Demon Days

Chapter 19 - Demon Days

 _August 5, 2024  
_ _42nd Floor_

Our field commander turned around and faced us. "Let's go over it one more time." He stressed. "They are red players. Once the battle starts, they will think nothing of killing us, so we can't hesitate either. If we do, we're dead." He ended solemnly. Easier said than done. Then, he cracked a confident smile. "But we, the clearing group, have higher numbers and greater average level. They might even surrender without a fight." The Clearing group got a laugh at that. Somehow I doubt that would happen. I simply nodded and prepared myself for the coming battle.

Laughing Coffin. I'd compare these guys to other PK'ers from other games, but they're much, _much_ worse. For starters, PK'ers in other games just kill you quickly and move on. These scum slowly kill their victims with poison.

And as far as I know, they're fully aware that they are really killing people. No excuses about it being a video game.

A couple of months ago, they cemented themselves as absolute scum of the earth by attacking a small guild and committing the first murder in Sword Art Online. Ever since then, they've racked up their kill count so much that recently the Clearers recognized them as the greatest threat to the clearing effort, and organized a coalition to neutralize them as soon as they found their hideout. The coalition consisted of most of the clearing group. Knights of Blood, Holy Dragon Alliance...a lot of familiar faces.

I myself haven't been actively participating in flushing them out, but I was invited to join in this one. I really hope that today's gonna be the end of Laughing Coffin.

When you think about it, it's kinda ironic that other humans were our worst enemy. But when you think about it even further, a _human_ designed this damn game.

We were inside a Tower-type Dungeon on a Floor that wasn't even close to the front lines. The clearers searched high and low for the red guild, bagging other criminal guilds on the way, but this was one of the last places they would've ever thought to search. In fact, the only reason the clearers even found their hideout in the first place was because an LC member surrendered to the clearers and divulged their hideout.

They picked a good place. It was far away from the popular farming areas, and they could just easily dispose of any players who happened to wander here. Aside from that, this dungeon was devoid of any monsters.

The only disadvantage that I could think of was that it was an Anti-Crystal Area and only had one entrance. Good for dealing with wandering players, but bad for escaping a siege.

I heard a couple of people talk in front of me - a blue-haired mace wielder and a helmeted spearman. "Hey, don't be so reckless out there, alright?" The spearman reminded before he looked nervously at the horizon. "I've got a bad feeling about this."

The blue-haired mace wielder chuckled at his friend. "You always have a bad feeling about everything we do and every place we go." He said before he flashed a cocky smile. "Besides, I've got _this._ " He brandished his mace around. "We've been through worse before. I've got your back, so relax, alright?"

The spearman said nothing in return, opting instead to nod silently.

As we traversed further into their hideout, I started feeling anxious. Our game plan was to waltz right into the dungeon and force the red guild into surrendering through a demonstration of superior firepower. However, as we entered the center of the dungeon, nobody was there.

I felt a tingling feeling, and I looked behind us.

Red players started coming out of the damn woodwork.

An ambush. They were surrounding us and attacking from all sides. Dammit, I should've seen this coming earlier.

Since they went out of their way to ambush us, them surrendering was unlikely. And while I have knives coated with Paralyzing poison, their levels are too high for it to take effect. We're gonna have to do this the hard way.

I locked blades with a spear wielding Laughing Coffin member. While he looked calm, I could sense the hesitation and desperation in his actions. He doesn't want to do this. I could try and reason with him, but I was too caught up in the battle to persuade him. Direct combat's the way to go.

I ducked under his attack and slammed my right elbow into his guts. He reeled back and left himself wide open as he gasped for air. I raised my glaive and feinted a lethal stab aimed directly on his face. He took the bait and crossed his arms in front of his face in fear. I cut his arms and one of his legs off. He's neutralized for the time being.

I rushed toward the fray and set my sights on another one. The bastard was swinging a mace around and violently knocked a player off his feet. I threw a knife at him to catch his attention, and he retaliated with a wild swing. Unfortunately for him, while his strikes were brutal, they were also slow and predictable. I dodged a hefty overhead attack that made a crater into the ground next to me. I cut his wrist off and then slammed him to the ground with Rending Crusher before stomping on his head to knock him out. I took a deep breath before moving on.

As the battle dragged on, the Laughing Coffin members pushed us back because of their unexpected ambush and knowledge of the environment. The dungeon was also littered with all kinds of traps.

However, we have them outnumbered and outgunned. Once all their tricks were used up, we slowly started overwhelming them. Slowly but surely, the fight was turning in our favor.

That is, before we realized just how far the LC members would go just to survive.

"AAAHH!" A clearer screamed in front of me as he fell down, his sword flying out of his grasp and impaling the ground. A Laughing Coffin member was laughing like a hyena as he plunged his jagged sword into the clearer's chest, ripping him apart. He chuckled as the clearer dissolved into particles and he set his sights on another target.

Me.

Even as he ran towards me, I found the time to look around. Everything felt like it was going in slow motion. I observed my fellow clearers. They were desperately fighting back, but we were getting pushed back.

I saw an LC member sneak up on Asuna as she was busy locking blades with a red player in front of her. The murderer wound its arm back and would have stabbed her had it not been for Nairi pushing her away and taking the hit herself. The attack brought her to the red zone, and would have definitely killed Asuna. A massive warhammer blew the red player away as Wilhelm rushed to assist them, giving the two enough time to fall back to somewhere safe. I lost sight of Wilhelm in the sea of players fighting each other.

I looked to the other side. The blue haired mace wielder had a red player dead to rights, but he hesitated in killing him. The murderer took this chance and skewered him in the heart with a shortsword. The helmeted spearman let out a wild roar as he swung at the red player that killed his friend, and they both killed each other in an instant.

There was a difference between the Clearers and Laughing Coffin - the latter didn't hesitate to kill...or die. We discussed the possibility of resorting to killing them, but who were we kidding? We could say anything we want, but in the end, we still hesitated. The red guild used that to their advantage, overwhelming us with reckless assaults without caring for their almost-depleted HP bars.

I looked back in front at the red player charging at me. Bastard thinks I was spooked, and his smile widened even more as he raised his sword and swung it towards me.

Unfortunately for him, it's the exact opposite.

No more time for mercy.

These aren't people. They're bags of meat that flail around.

Maggot-infested bags of meat.

 _ *****  
Cue Music: Sun Araw - Horse Steppin'  
*****_

The murderer's face went from pure bliss, to frozen disbelief, to utter horror as I dodged his predictable attack and plunged Caerulus into his knee. He started screaming, and I shut him up by digging my right hand to his throat and slamming him to the ground.

I would've just neutralized him right then and there, but I then I saw the flasks of poison strapped to his belt. My brows furrowed as I realized that he's really proficient in mixing poison. From what I've heard, all of them know how to make poison, but some are vastly more skillful than others.

I took one of the flasks from him and looked at its contents. I observed that the bright red liquid inside the flask was indeed very potent. I looked at his face. He was frothing at the mouth and trying to stand up, but he just laid there shaking because I made sure that the back of his head hit the ground hard enough to stun him.

I dunno about you guys, but he looks thirsty to me. He looks like he could use a drink.

I should do something about that.

I held him still by pressing my foot on his chest as I placed the flask above his face. I then opened the flask and let its contents splash on his face. He went from screaming in fear to gurgling and choking at his own concoction. His poison worked fast - what was left of his HP started to decrease at an alarming rate.

Not even ten seconds passed, and the poison-wielding murderer died choking on his own work.

Pretty fucking ironic, if you ask me.

I let the empty flask fall from my hand and got up, setting my sights on another murderous bag of meat.

Funny...it was my first time killing a person, and yet I felt...numb. I felt a wave of nausea and guilt wash over me, but it was almost too easy to push it to the back of my head.

I really am a freak.

And I really am okay with that.

What I'm _not_ okay with is that most of these fucking bastards are still out there killing people and thinking that they're fucking invincible.

Well, that could be arranged.

 _ ****  
Changing Perspective - Third Person  
****_

Kirito felt cold, and yet he was sweating. This was a disaster. An absolute bloodbath.

The black-clothed swordsman locked blades with a red player as the murderer charged recklessly towards him. He saw the madness in the murderer's eyes - the realization of his impending capture or death pushing him over the edge.

A few moments before, Kirito saw this Laughing Coffin member cornered and beaten to the red zone by three KoB members who were begging him to just stop. He responded by attacking them. Two of the KoB members died. The third one threw his sword away and kneeled. Surely this red player still had a shred of humanity in him, right?

The clearer found out the hard way, as he was brutally stabbed in the chest.

The swordsman in black gritted his teeth before he took a steady breath. He shut out any unnecessary thoughts, all pretenses of mercy. There was no time to hesitate.

He knew what needed to be done.

With one swift motion, he deflected the LC member's away. With a desperate shout, Kirito swung diagonally and cut the murderer in half.

A wave of nausea almost overwhelmed him, but he pushed it away from his mind. He turned and dispatched another LC member before rushing headlong into the fray.

Kirito spotted Riwet in the thick of it, his dark blue glaive seeking limbs and severing them from the LC member's bodies. He saw a grim satisfaction in the glaive wielder's eyes as he grabbed an LC member by the hair and slammed him to the ground before he stuck his thumbs down the player's eyes. The red player let out a pained, feral scream, but he was cut short by Riwet straightening his hand and plunging it into his throat.

The swordsman in black momentarily observed the glaive wielder in blue, drawn in by morbid curiosity. He looked at his eyes. Unlike the other players locked in this battle, Riwet's eyes weren't mad or desperate.

They were _hungry_.

And before Kirito knew it, the clashing of blades and war cries were slowly being replaced by pleas of surrender.

 _ *****  
Changing Perspective - Riwet  
*****_

That's 2 dead. There's more where that came from.

"KILL HIM! KILL HIM!" I heard the LC members roar towards me. Good luck with that. I dodged a knife-wielding bastard and pried his weapon away from his hands. I straightened my right hand and activated Embracer, thrusting my hand _through_ _his face_ and out the back of his head. I lifted him high, then threw him towards his guildmates. He exploded into particles after he hit another player.

"KI...M! K…." I took a deep breath and filtered out their wailings, focusing on hearing the sounds of battle as I dove even further into the fray, arms and legs littering the ground as I swung my glaive.

A sword and shield user stood before me, his shield raised. Unfortunately for him, he was holding his shield with his left hand, exposing his right side to my assault. Also looked like it was his first time dealing with a left-handed opponent.

I dashed forward and pried the shield away before I cut his shield arm off by the elbow joint where his armor was thin. The realization of his mortality made him freeze, and I took the opening to unleash a Martial Arts skill.

I activated Mach Kick, a high-level Martial Arts Skill consisting of a single roundhouse kick. I aimed for his head, and couldn't stifle a small smile as the impact made his helmet crumple violently into his head before he cartwheeled away from me, his HP fully depleted.

"A de...n! H..'s a d..mon!" Good god, shut the _fuck_ up.

I lurched forward and caught myself from falling, placing one of my knees on the ground. I looked down and saw that the end of a sword was jutting out of my right side. I slowly turned around and locked eyes with another bastard. His face was contorted in fear as he jumped back. Musta realized that I wasn't dying, and he was about to be.

I rushed towards him. He threw a knife at me, and I crossed my right arm to shield my body as the blade impaled itself on my forearm. I unleashed Pale Derision and tore him apart in an instant. Should've made him squirm first.

"S...p! S… it! W...ive up…! W… sur...der! " One of the red players was shouting some nonsense. For the last time, _shut up_.

I rushed forward and did a normal kick targeting his legs, pulling my leg back and hooking my foot to sweep at his ankle. He fell on his back with a thud, and I pressed my foot on his chest before I aimed my glaive on his throat.

"STOP IT! SURRENDER! I SURRENDER!" He screamed at the top of his lungs as my glaive was inches away from piercing his throat.

I stopped and took a moment to look at him, removing my foot on his chest. While it seemed like I was contemplating on letting him go, I was just waiting for him to try something so I was justified on finishing him off. He was true to his word - he slowly rolled over and spread his hands as he placed them into the ground.

 _ *****  
Music End  
*****_

His action snapped me out of the moment. I looked around and saw that the other red players were dropping their weapons and raising their hands.

I don't remember much of what happened after that. I remembered the KoB opening a Corridor Crystal to the Black Iron Palace. I remembered Asuna tending to an injured and exhausted Wilhelm and Nairi.

We tallied the casualties. 8 Clearers and 13 LC members died.

21 people dead, with me personally killing 5.

I silently left as soon as all of the LC Members were rounded up and thrown into prison.

My mind was in a haze. I wasn't thinking of where I was going, only looking at the ground I was walking on as I glanced at my shaking hands. The guilt, the horrible feeling that I pushed away came crashing back to me.

I killed them. I killed _five people_. My mind kept flashing back to that fight. I remembered the cacophonous sound of clashing blades and people screaming, the sight of a vicious battle between humans, and the sensation of me taking a life.

And I remembered how much I enjoyed it.

For the first time in what I felt was a while, all I want to do is just go home and lie down. I took a deep breath as I looked up and looked at my surroundings.

My eyes widened.

I was in Floria. Right in front of Silica's house. The sky was filled with dark clouds. It might rain soon.

What the hell am I thinking, wandering towards her house? The last thing I want to do is to grace her with my disgusting presence. I shook my head and walked away to leave.

"Riwet?" Silica was standing in front of me, her tone a bit confused.

Shit... _oh shit._ "O-oh. Hi Silica, I-I...I was just...just happened to be close here." I stammered. "I remembered that I have something to do. Bye for now." I made a lame excuse as I turned away from her.

I stopped in my tracks when I felt something grab the sleeve of my coat. Seemed like Silica rushed to hold onto me for some reason. I turned my head to face her and was about to ask her what's wrong, when the next words that came out of her mouth made my blood freeze.

"I...know what happened...earlier…" She trailed off. "The coalition...against Laughing Coffin..."

My head was spinning and my breath hitched. "Ah...I…" I rasped. I tried to come up with something so I can leave, but all I could think about was how much I needed to get out of her sight.

I shook her hand off and ran for it. For some reason, my feet felt like putty and I was having trouble not to trip even though there was nothing in front of me. "Wait!" I heard a from behind me say. I looked back and saw that Silica was running to catch up with me.

No...don't. Get away.

I picked up the pace and traversed Floria's narrow alleyways in an attempt to lose her. The sky rumbled, and raindrops started to fall.

She knows what happened. Just run. Why is she chasing me? Is it to tell me how disgusted she is with a murderer like me?

I was too focused on my horrible thoughts that I was too late to realize that I ran into a dead end.

I turned around and saw Silica standing there, a worried expression on her face as she silently looked at me. She took a step forward, and I unconsciously took a step back.

I took a Teleport Crystal out and held it up with my trembling hands. "Teleport…" I started to use it, but my shaking hand lost its grip and it fell silently on the ground. I kneeled and feverishly tried to pick it up from the ground, but the damn thing kept slipping from my fingers.

Silica finally reached me, kneeling down and peering at my eyes. I looked away, expecting her to slap me or shun me for being a murderer. Instead, I felt her arms wrap around my head.

"It's gonna be okay...calm down…" Silica whispered.

"Wh...why...why are you…" I asked with a whisper, confused at Silica was doing.

She shook her head and continued on saying that everything will be alright.

I couldn't take it anymore. I buried my face into her chest and wept.

"...are you crying…?" Silica asked.

"...it's only the rain…" I replied unconvincingly. We sat silently for a while.

Finally, I took a deep sigh. "I...I'm okay now…" I whispered weakly as tapped her arms with my hands.

In response, She tightened her hug a bit more. "Are you sure?"

"...yeah…" I lied as I pulled away.

"...have you eaten yet?" Silica asked.

"...not yet…"

"Do you...want to come over again…?" she asked slowly.

"...is it okay…?" I replied. She noodled. I looked away and nodded back. I looked up and saw that the rain was picking up. I opened my coat and draped it over her to shield her from the rain.

"Thank you…" She muttered. I nodded back and we went on our way.

We quickly went to her house. Just like last time, her house felt warm and welcoming. Silica went to her room to change clothes before she started cooking dinner. I sat on the living room sofa and absently stared through the window as I drew a towel out and dried myself while Pina shook water off her feathers and kept me company. After a few minutes, she called me in and we ate silently.

"...th-the weather's pretty rainy tonight, huh?" Silica remarked.

"Mn…" I nodded wordlessly.

Unlike last time, the atmosphere was dour and heavy. Silica was occasionally giving me worried glances when she thought that I was looking somewhere else. Even Pina was giving me puppy-dog eyes.

I finished my food and sighed. Silica's normally very cheerful and outgoing. It's nice that she's worried about me, but I like seeing her smile. "So…" I started, "What exactly have you...heard?" We're gonna have to have this conversation sooner or later.

She took a deep breath and opened her mouth slowly to speak. "I heard the news from Argo-san...a coalition against the Laughing Coffin...things turned...ugly…" She paused and looked at me.

"Keep going." I urged.

"You had to...you had to…" Silica grimaced.

"I _killed_ people, Silica. _Five people_." I forced out, letting the statement hang in the air. Pina came over and handed me a piece of peanut. I took it and placed it back in her bowl. She made a sad sound as she looked down. I looked away and sighed.

"Argo-san was quick to add that your influence in the fight was key in forcing the Laughing Coffin into a surrender. You prevented any further casualties." Silica quickly replied.

I shook my head. "She's just saying that."

"Argo-san's not the kind of people who would say something like that."

I pondered for a bit and sighed. "...even so, that not the point."

"Then...what is..?"

"It's because of of...I…" I bit my lip and scowled. I was too damn ashamed to admit it.

"Because of what?" Understandably, Silica tried to make me answer the question. "Please, tel-"

"IT'S BECAUSE OF HOW MUCH I _**FUCKING**_ ENJOYED IT!" I finally screamed out. Silica and Pina were caught off guard by my outburst, and they looked like deer caught in headlights. I looked down and cradled my head with my hands. Good job lashing out. Real mature of you. "I...I'm sorry for raising my voice…" I slightly raised my head and looked at my hands. "It's just that...now, I feel horrible, but back then...back in that moment…I...I didn't have to kill them...but I _wanted to_...and I... _I_ _enjoyed it._ I…." I clenched my hands into fists, at a loss for further words.

My eyes widened when I saw Silica's hands over mine. I looked up and realized that she knelt in front of me, looking upward and peering at me with her eyes. I looked away. My relationship with Silica is over. She doesn't need someone like me. The best thing that she could do is to cut ties with me and pretend that she never knew me.

So why was she comforting me?

"Riwet...look at me…" She muttered. "Please...look at me." I turned my head and looked at her. "Tell me. If you're just a bad person who just likes killing people, then why did you save me back then?"

I was caught off guard by the question. "...I…I..."

"Because you just felt like it, right?" She said. "Tell me. Would you enjoy it if you kill me right now?"

I gasped. " _Absolutely not._ " I forced out as I did my best to keep my voice from cracking.

She squeezed my hands lightly, and I stopped clenching them. She flashed a smile at me. It was marred with worry, but still warm and genuine. "I can't quite put it into words, but you're a nice person. You saved me, and you helped me save Pina, and you kept me safe from that orange guide, and you were always helpful to me, and you always find time for me, and...and you…" Silica said passionately before she began feverishly thinking about how she could compliment me. I was moved by what she said, and I put my hand on her head and patted it. "...you're better than you think you are. Don't forget that...please…" She ended with a whisper.

We stayed like that for a few minutes. My eyes felt hot, and I closed them tight. I felt tired all of a sudden, as if my body suddenly remembered that it just did something physically and mentally exhausting. I should just pack it up and sleep.

I stood up and bowed. "Thank you very much, Silica. Goodbye." I said as I turned around and headed for her door.

"Wait!" Silica suddenly grabbed my sleeve and had a grave look on her face. Why was she so worried?

I replayed what I had said, and realized that my words had some...unpleasant implications to them. "Oh! I'm just gonna go to bed and lie down. I'll contact you first thing in the morning." I reassured her. That was downright stupid of me.

"Oh…" She said as she placed her hands on her chest as she sighed in relief. I should've really worded that better. However, when I smiled silently and headed for her door once again, she called out again. "Hey." I turned around. "Would you...like to...sleep over…?" She asked meekly.

I considered it, but I shook my head. I've taken more than enough of her time, and I certainly don't want to overstay my welcome. "...you should get some rest. I'll try and make do on my own." As I heard myself say those words, I felt my heart sink slightly. Alone...well...that's what it is...

Silica took a step forward. "...please…?" She pleaded as she hung her head down ever so slightly and peeked at me between her bangs. Her eyes were glimmering, and I lost myself in them for I don't know how long. Please...don't make that face...

I took a deep breath and finally nodded my head. Her bright smile at my response made me feel warm inside.

I followed her upstairs as she led me to the guest room. It was mostly empty aside from a one-person bed on the corner, a desk next to it, and a chair tucked under the desk. "Get as much rest as you can, alright?" She reminded me with a worried expression on her face.

I reached out and patted her head. "I will, so you should too, okay?" I replied.

"Yes!" She replied with a smile. As I removed my hand, she looked down and twiddled her fingers. "If...if it's okay with you...we could...share…" She mumbled something as she started fidgeting.

"Pardon? Sorry, I didn't hear the last part." I replied.

She held her hands out in a placating manner. "Ah! Ahaha! It's nothing! It's nothing!" She hurriedly said. "Well, good night!" She said with a smile.

"Good night." I returned the smile.

I watched her as she opened the door

"Good night, Riwet." She said.

"Good night, Silica." I replied.

...

Both of us were waiting for the other to close their door first...

"...I'm gonna close this door in three, alright?" I said. She nodded. "1, 2, 3. Good night." I smiled at her before I finally closed the door.

I changed into something more comfortable and tiredly staggered to the bed. I closed my eyes and tried to relax, but thoughts keep coming back to me. Vague enough that most of it were almost a blur, but vivid enough to keep me awake. I shut my thoughts out and tried to get some sleep, but it didn't quite work. I tossed and turned for half an hour before I sat up and cradled my head. I materialized a cup of hot chocolate and drank it as I gazed out of the window perpendicular to the bed.

When I was halfway done with my drink, I heard a soft knocking at the door. "Come in." I said as I took a small sip. Silica and Pina came into the room. "Hey."

"Hey." She replied as she closed the door behind her. "Can't sleep?" She asked.

"Mn…" I hummed before I raised my cup and pointed it towards the window. "At least the view's nice." I remarked dryly. It stopped raining a few minutes ago, and the bright, starry night sky was on full display.

"May I join you for a bit?" Silica asked.

"Sure." I smiled. She sat on the bed beside me. I gave her a cup of hot chocolate, and we silently stared at the night sky together as Pina flew to the desk and slept. Her presence made me feel at ease.

After a few minutes, Silica spoke up. "So…what are you going to do next?"

I shrugged. "I dunno, maybe take a break for a day or something."

Silica looked at me. "...Only a day?" She asked anxiously.

I reassured her with a smile. "At the very least...yeah."

And with that, we continued on silently admiring the scene. Eventually, my eyelids felt heavy, and my head started to droop. My mind started to shut down, and I felt myself lean against something. My last memory before fully falling asleep was being gently laid down and faintly hearing somebody humming.

 _ *****  
Changing Perspective: Third Person  
*****_

Silica smiled as she saw Riwet relaxing. Her smile widened when he leaned on her body and she realized that he was sleeping. _Finally, he's getting some rest._ She laid him down on the bed and hummed Floria's BGM for a bit.

She couldn't quite understand what Riwet was going through, but she knew that he was suffering. Despite everything, Riwet was there for Silica when she needed help. It was only right for her to do the same…

If he wanted her company.

…

Speaking of being there for him, an idea popped from her head.

 _Well, my turn to sleep on the floor, I guess._ Silica thought as she laid out a Sleeping Mat to the ground and laid on it.

Silica took one last look at Riwet. When she saw that he was sleeping comfortably, she smiled and turned around before she closed her eyes.

 _ *****  
Chapter End  
*****_

 **A/N** : Thank you very much for the reviews, NotRoger and Kancolle Haruna-chan.

I think this chapter went pretty well. I hope that I delivered the appropriate amount of angst concerning the situation and hope that it's handled well. Plenty enough to make him realistic and not a complete monster of a killer, but also not too much, lest he becomes a super annoying whiner.

Well, it could be worse. It could be Riwet whining and screaming at Silica, telling her that she would never understand his feelings.

I wanna hear your thoughts about Riwet's influence in this fight. In the canon, 11 Clearers and 21 LC members were killed - a total of 32 casualties. In AWE, 8 Clearers died. Kirito killed 2 LC members and an additional 6 died to the rest of the clearers. Riwet's brutal execution of the _5_ LC members spooked the red guild enough to surrender earlier than the canon. 8 Clearers and 13 LC Members died - a total of 21 casualties.

I'm not saying that Riwet's actions are completely justified - only partially. As he said so himself, he could have avoided killing them. But then, the heat of the moment blinded him, and he started to enjoy cutting off limbs and killing too much to care.

And for better or for worse, it's only gonna get _easier_ for him from this time onwards.

It's complicated. I want to believe that people have the capability to do good to others, and death would rob them of their chance at redeeming themselves. But there's a line. If a person wants to or has done an unforgivable transgression to me and/or the people I care about, or if I saw a news or a documentary about a hideous person that did horrifying crimes against humanity, and their reasons were nothing more than "I just felt like it", I want to watch them _burn._

And I find myself leaning on the latter.

Am I wrong to think that way?

…

Long story short, if Kirito or Klein or anybody he cares about dies, then Riwet's gonna go off the deep end. And if god forbid, _Silica_ dies? He'd lose it.

God, that got pretty dark. Don't worry. Next chapter's a palette cleanser.

The final point I want to talk about is that I got my hands on Sword Art Online: Hollow Fragment on the PS4. For those who don't know, SAO: HF is sort of a "what if" scenario - in this game, instead of Asuna sacrificing herself to shield Kirito from Heathcliff's attack, Heathcliff started glitching halfway through the fight.

Kirito was able to outright kill Heathcliff…but the game continues…

The story starts one month after the duel, and we play as Kirito. All of the regulars are there. Klein, Egil, Silica, Liz…even Yui's there.

Also, Leafa's there...and Sinon, too...through...forced teleportation?

I just finished the prologue, and I like the premise. We get introduced to this character named Philia and a whole new area called the Hollow Area. Gameplay's pretty okay. Graphics are...honestly pretty meh. From what I've heard, it's a remaster of a PSP SAO game, so they just added new content while improving on the graphics as much as they can. And boy, it shows. Well, you can only improve a PSP game's graphics for so much.

While I'm excited to play the game, I honestly don't know how much of it can benefit AWE. I'll let you know in the next chapter when I've played a bit more.

That's all for now. Thank you very much, and have a good one.


	21. CH 20 - Respite

Chapter 20 - Respite

 _August 6, 2024_

I slowly blinked myself awake, turning away as the bright morning sunlight was stinging my half-asleep eyes. I sat up and held my face with my hands as I stirred. I could still feel a slight pang of stress, but my mind felt mostly clear.

I sighed and looked around the room. There's Pina sleeping on the desk...and Silica was sleeping on a Sleeping Mat.

I smiled as I watched her a bit. The reverse of the first time we met.

I nodded before I looked away and opened my Player Menu. I saw that my Quests tab had a notification. Huh...weird...I didn't accept or go through a quest recently...hmm…

I saw that there was a new quest that popped up. I clicked on it and skimmed the details. An invitation to a fireworks festival on the 30th Floor.

A fireworks festival? I wonder how I got the requirements for this quest. Is it because I own a house there? Hmm...

Well, I'll take a good look at this later.

I closed my Player Menu and laid back down, crossing my arms behind my head.

I spotted movement from the edges of my vision. I turned my side and saw that Pina was stretching her wings and yawning. She turned her head to my direction. "Good morning, Pina." I said to her.

She craned her head to the side before flapping her wings and flying towards me. She landed on the bed and crawled to my chest before she curled up and slept.

I shrugged. I guess we're doing this now.

We stayed like that for a bit more. I don't feel like moving when I've got a little critter sleeping on my chest and purring up a storm. And...man...she's actually kneading me.

After a few minutes, I heard rustling from the side. "Mn~" I heard Silica sit up and stretch. I was planning on opening my eyes and greeting her, but Pina purring while sleeping on my chest was making me too comfortable.

"Ah! Pina, you're so unfair…" Silica whispered. She probably turned this way and saw Pina...wait, unfair? "It's just like last time. He's not a pillow, you know!"

Pina replied by nuzzling on my chest as she purred comfortably.

"Geez…" I heard footsteps coming closer. Silica must be walking towards me.

I opened my eyes ever so slightly and looked at Silica. She was hunched down near the bed and glancing disapprovingly at Pina before turning her head to look at me.

…why am I pretending to be asleep?

I tensed up when Silica placed her hand on my head and patted it. It felt really pleasant. I wonder if this how she felt when I was patting her head.

I let this continue for a couple of minutes before I flickered my eyes and stirred, acting like I just woke up. Silica gasped audibly and quickly backed away. "Ngh…" I slowly rubbed my eyes.

"G-good morning!" Silica said.

"Mn...good morning…" I muttered. I could hear her very quickly storing something into her inventory, likely the Sleeping Mat. Pina came to and flew away from me. I sat up on the side of the bed as I stretched.

Sure, I could just lay in bed and let Silica pet me for who knows how long, but she's probably got something better to do other than pampering me.

And...how do you say it...it's a bit...embarrassing…

...

Only a bit, though.

SIlica turned back and looked at me. "How are you feeling?" She asked.

I sighed. "Feeling good so far." I rubbed my stomach. "Breakfast wouldn't hurt, though." I said as I stood up. "I guess I'll make something to eat."

"I can cook breakfast for us." She offered.

I shook my head. "You already cooked our dinner yesterday. It's my turn, okay?"

She nodded back.

We went downstairs and I made a bacon and egg sandwich. In quite the contrast to yesterday evening, the mood was pretty warm. Silica was happily munching down on the food I made while commenting about how good it was.

"Kyururu…" Pina walked towards me and handed me a piece of peanut. I smiled as I took it and flicked it to the air before I caught it with my mouth. "Kyuruu!" Pina made a happy sound as she walked back towards her peanut bowl.

I reached over and pulled a peanut from her bowl. "Hey, buddy. See this?" I said to her as I wagged the peanut near her.

"Kyuru?" Pina crooned quizzically.

"Catch!" I lobbed it upwards.

"Kyururu!" With one fluid motion, Pina soared into the air and caught the peanut with her mouth while doing a somersault before landing on the ground feet-first.

"Noice!" I cheered.

"Kyuru!" Pina huffed and made a dignified posture, wordlessly saying 'I'm so awesome'.

"You and Pina really get along together." Silica remarked.

"We do?" I asked.

"In SAO, Tamed Monsters would only eat when personally fed by their owners. Even if they found their favorite food in the Field right in front of them, they would ignore them. They also wouldn't tell you that they're hungry. A hidden affinity meter will fall when their owner forgets to feed them, and the familiar would cease to be Tamed and would run away if that meter falls too low for too long."

"Heeh…" I replied. "I didn't know that."

"That's why I always have ample supply of her food with me at all times, and I set an alarm to periodically remind me to feed her." She leaned in a bit. "And yet...you're able to feed her and be this friendly with her. My guess is that it's because she knows that you're the one who saved her life. Her life...but also, her master's as well." She smiled as she looked at me.

I returned her smile. "Thank you." I muttered. Her smile widened a bit and she giggled softly.

"Kyuru! Kyururu!" Our little heart-to-heart was interrupted by Pina as she fervently spun around and chased her tail.

I glanced at Silica. "I didn't notice it yesterday, but your hairstyle looks good on you."

"Thank you." She giggled. Her hair ornaments were gone and her hair flowed freely. The Radiant Hairclip that we found a few months ago was clipped on her side. "The twintails were a bit childish...and...um, er...y-you said that I...look prettier when my hair is down…" She ended her statement with a whisper, but I heard her.

I scratched my face and looked away. "To be fair, you look pretty, regardless of whatever hairstyle you have." I said, trying hard not to blush.

"I see..thanks...hehe…" She mumbled softly.

We spent the next few minutes finishing up our breakfast. The food turned out to be pretty good.

I took the dishes away and washed them. "I got this, so just go through your morning routine or something."

"Thank you."

"Don't mention it."

After that exchange, we went to do our own thing. After I finished cleaning, I sat on the living room sofa and played with Pina as I waited for Silica.

Eventually, she came to the living room, wearing her usual outdoor clothing. "So, what are your plans for today?"

I shrugged. "Nothing really planned...oh, that's right." I clapped my hands as I remembered something. I opened my Player Menu and selected the Quests tab. "There's this quest I got. Wanna have a look?" She nodded, and I sent her the quest info.

"Heeh...a fireworks festival, huh? Sounds fun. Can I come with you?"

"Of course, but don't you have plans for today?"

She smiled. "They can wait."

We teleported to the 30th Floor's main city, Aurelia. The city was slightly covered with snow, but the temperature was only a bit chilly. The NPCs on the Floor said that the sky was enchanted - snow fell often during the night, and the snow would stay at a set time before melting into air, regardless of how hot the day was. It didn't melt into water or ice. Makes for a pretty view.

"Are you cold?" I asked her. I've told her to wear something warm, but she wanted to go to the Floor first.

She shook her head. "I've upgraded my equipment to be resistant to heat or cold."

I nodded. "Alright. Let's go."

We went to the quest marker which was directing us to the city centre.

We found an NPC. He explained that the festival starts one hour after sunset - about 8 PM.

"So, twelve hours before the fireworks, huh? Got any ideas to spend the time?" I said as I turned behind me to face Silica.

"Ooh! Ooh! Can we check out those stalls?" She asked excitedly. I shrugged and nodded. The city centre's normally pretty empty, but now there were stalls everywhere. The stalls' designs were mostly Western, but there were some Japanese-styled stalls scattered here and there. It felt like a matsuri...well, except for the snow, that is.

Silica went over to one of the stalls. "Wah~" She exclaimed. There's a stall that was selling all kinds of masks, from typical Japanese masks to sentai masks to even SAO's unique masquerade-styled masks. Doesn't give any significant boosts in stats, but they're pretty well-made. Pretty cheap, too.

We bought a couple of masks before we moved on. A lot of stuff there. Carnival games, food stalls...

I started getting a bit tired after some time perusing the stalls. It's a bit weird. I could stand solo hunting all day and night, but put me in a place where there's a lot of people around and I'll need a time out after like two hours.

I turned to look at Silica. "I'm a bit worn out. I'll just take a quick break on one of those benches."

"I'll come with you." She nodded.

We went to a relatively quiet place on the edge of the centre. I sat on the bench and sighed. "I just need a few minutes to recharge...phew…"

Silica took a seat beside me. "It's fine. Take your time."

I sat there and made myself comfortable. Silica was opening one of the mystery bags she bought.

"Oh yeah." Silica spoke up. "You wanna hear a neat quiz?"

I shrugged. "I'm listening."

"Alright, here goes." She took a deep breath. "My name comes after Arumi, but before Rin." She said.

I looked at her. "Wait, your real name?"

"Yup."

"Hmm…"

"You don't have to answer right away. Just think about it for a little bit, okay?"

I nodded. "Alright." I checked the time. Only a bit before noon. "Wanna go for lunch? I know a place." I said to her. She nodded.

 _ *****  
Loading...Complete  
*****_

We went to a restaurant near the edges of the city. It's a bit far from the Teleport Gate and the city centre, but it's got some good things going for it. For one, since it's ways away from the busy parts of the city, there's always space for customers. Also, the pizza's really good.

As we were eating pizza, Silica looked at me. "Hey Riwet, your house is on this Floor, right?" She asked.

"Yeah, it is." I replied.

"...can I come over?"

"...sure."

After that, we finished eating and went out of the restaurant. "Follow me."

The one thing I really liked about this establishment was that it was pretty close to my house.

"We're here." I said, stopping in front of one of the houses. I unlocked the front door and opened it. "Come in."

"Sorry for intruding~" She said as she came in.

My house looked pretty small on the outside, but it felt bigger when you're actually inside. It was a bungalow-styled house with a pretty vacant attic, which I used for storing stuff. The first floor had a living room, an adjacent dining table, a master's bedroom with its own small bathroom, a bathroom, and a pretty vacant room that I kept empty.

I observed Silica as she looked around. Pina made herself comfortable as she laid on the living room sofa.

"It's pretty plain, I know." I admitted. "I just use this place for rest and storage, so I keep it simple."

"Heeeh…" She hummed as she continued snooping. Something caught her eyes, and she moved towards it.

I walked closer to her. "That's my picture wall. SAO's got some pretty scenes." I explained. I pointed at the various pictures I had. The Starting City on the 1st Floor, the Great Savanna on the 2nd Floor, Floria, the mountaintop on the 55th Floor, and so much more...all memorable stuff that I captured with my handy Screen Shot Camera Crystal.

"They all look so pretty." She remarked.

I nodded in agreement before an idea popped up in my head. "Speaking of pretty scenes...I've got one in mind."

 _ *****  
Loading...Complete  
*****_

"This is my little spot." I remarked as I sat on one of the benches nearby.

"So pretty..." She remarked as she sat next to me. Pina landed on the arm of the bench and looked at the scenery.

"The fireworks are gonna start in one hour, but I wanna show you how this place looks when the sun is setting." I explained. We were at an overlook with a clear view of Aurelia. In between the overlook and Aurelia was Lake Aurelia. The lake's deep blue color glimmered into scarlet as the sun was setting.

Those mountains were beautiful. They had lush forests in their bodies but their peaks were made out of stone.

As the sun was setting, it was slowly covering the mountains with darkness, starting from the bottom and slowly working its way towards the top. The mountains gave one last bright glimmer for the day before the sky darkened.

"I don't get to watch the sunset pretty often. Too preoccupied with frontline stuff. " I admitted. "But for me, nothing beats the view."

"Thank you for sharing this place with me. That was beautiful." She replied

"Don't mention it. And I realized that this is the perfect place to view the fireworks, So let's look forward to that." I explained. "Oh, yeah. I figured out your quiz about your real name. Well...most of it, I guess."

"Really?"

"Yeah...I narrowed it down to two names - Kei or Rika." I said.

Can you explain how did you come to that conclusion?" She asked.

"The second name, Rika, is pretty explanatory. Just take 'Shi' out." I shrugged. The Japanese pronunciation of Silica is _Shirika,_ so take _Shi_ out and you've got _Rika._

Silica smiled, not giving anything away. "And the first one?"

"Kei is based on your hints. Arumi is most likely Aluminum, but I'm not completely sure. But what I'm completely sure about is that Rin means phosphorus." I elaborated. "And then it hit me. Silica sounds like Silicon. The Japanese of Silicon is _Keiso,_ so your name's Keiso, or Kei plus...something."

Silica finally giggled. "You're right. Kei is part of my name."

Alright. "Are either of your parents chemists?"

She shook her head. "My grandfather's a chemist. My dad was born on February 6. 2/6. Iron ( _tetsu_ ) has an atomic number of 26, so my grandfather named him Tetsuhiko. My dad isn't really into the sciences and prefers arts and literature, but he wanted to carry on the naming trend. When I was born on October 4, 10/4, he tried to name me after Rutherfordium, the element with the atomic number of 104."

I pursed my lips. "I assume he had some difficulty doing that?" I asked. Also, she didn't realize that she just dropped her birthday, just like that.

Silica nodded. "No matter what he tried, he couldn't get a girl's name out of it, so he resorted to adding 10 and 4 to make 14. Silicon's atomic number is 14, and he came up with the name Keiko."

"And 'Silica' obviously came from Silicon." I pointed out.

She nodded. "I felt that 'Silico' was too weird to be a name."

"Clearly, you haven't met QweQwe-san yet." I said to her.

"...eh?" She looked at me.

"...I'm kidding." I smirked.

She pouted before continuing. "...Anyways, that was also the reason why I had my twintails. The hair ornaments that I used to wear symbolizes the O atoms, making SiO2 - Silicon. I realized that my eyes can be the ones representing the O atoms, so I'm free to change my hair to whatever style I want."

"Heeeh~ So, not only did you tell me a pretty interesting story, you also gave me your name _and_ your birthday."

"...eh?...ah!" She gasped as her face reddened. She did her trademark maneuver, which is to meekly hang her head down a bit and look up, peering at me from between her bangs. She also held her hands close to her body, making her look a bit smaller. I don't like making her feel anxious or troubled, but that gesture is just so damn endearing. "Ah...um…"

"Heh…" I chuckled. "While we're on the subject of names…" I smirked as I figured out something that'll interest her and snap her out of her embarrassed state. "My name comes after Keiso."

She tilted her head before her eyes lit up excitedly. "Rin?!"

I smiled "Yup."

"T-then, your birthday's on October 15?!"

I shook my head. "Nope. It's on October 24. As for my name, I got an even stranger origin for that. Rin is actually the Japanese pronunciation of my name."

"...Japanese pronunciation?" She asked.

I nodded. "My birth name is Lynn, but I've been Rin for five...six years now. You even spell them the same way in Katakana."

"But...you don't look like a foreigner..."

I shrugged. "Half-foreigner. Japanese dad, Canadian mother. Anyways, they wanted a name that would be relatively easy to pronounce, both in English and Japanese. Helps that my dad's name is Rinnosuke and my mom's name is Linda."

"Heeeh~... So where did 'Riwet' come from?" Silica asked, curiosity present in her tone as she leaned in. "That is...if you don't mind me asking…" She added. Yeah, not really convincing when your face is screaming 'please tell me~'.

"Well…" I started and sighed.

 _ *****  
Start Flashback  
*****_

 _November 6, 2022_

 _Character Creation_

Here I am, in front of a virtual display. My avatar stood in front of me.

I've spent the last couple of minutes customizing my character. It didn't take long because the default options were pretty decent.

However, a very important decision laid in front of me.

 _ **Please select your name**_

Hmm...what's a good name? It's I don't wanna write my own name...hmm…

 _*5 minutes later_

I _can't_ , for the life of me, figure out what my name should be. Riku? Taken. Rico? Taken. Aaaa? _Taken._ Tekken? Taken. Liam?...Free to use, but uh...nah…

…

Ri...Ri…

Ri...

 _*10 minutes la-_

"Ri... _Ri_... _ **R**_ **I** _ **I**_ **Y** _ **A**_ **A** _ **A**_ **A** _ **AA**_ **AA** _ **H!**_ " I screamed in frustration as I slammed my left hand on the virtual keypad. My ring finger, middle finger, and forefinger made contact with the virtual keys, adding three more letters to R and i.

 ** _Ri_** _ **wet**_

…

Meh. It'll do.

 _ *****  
End Flashback  
*****_

"Hehe…" Silica giggled.

I shrugged. "Yeah. A bit different from your story, but uhh... it is what it is." My throat was a bit parched, so I materialized two flasks of root beer. "Want one?"

She gave me a weird look. "You still have those? I thought that you would've finished your barrel by now."

I cleared my throat. "Yeah, that's it. I totally have some stock from the time we went there. I totally didn't go back there and fill...I dunno...two...twenty?...top-quality barrels to store them and make sure that they're in mint condition." I smiled.

Silica shook her head incredulously. "Seriously?" She asked.

"I was lying about the number of barrels." I admitted. She made an 'I'm relieved that you're not that crazy' face. "I actually filled _fifty_ barrels." I smirked and chuckled.

She shook her head and threw her arms in exasperation. "You have a problem."

"Hmph." I scoffed. "It's only a problem if you think that it is."

"Pretty sure that that isn't how it works…" She muttered before she gave up and sighed. "I'll have one."

I handed one to her. I opened my flask and raised it. "Cheers."

"Cheers." She clinked her flask with mine and we drank the root beer.

With that, we silently stared at the evening scene. I glanced at her. She seemed to be in a good mood. The fireworks were starting any time now.

 _ *****  
Cue Music: CHON - Fluffy  
*****_

"Hey...thank you...for yesterday... and also for today. It was really fun...hanging out with you..." I finally said. She nodded with an unexpectedly mirthless smile. I cocked my head. "Silica?"

She started with a sigh. "It's...just...you've been through something horrible...and all I could do is stay with you. I can't give you any advice...I don't understand what you're going through...When I lost Pina, you knew how to bring her back, and you encouraged me...but now, when you're the one suffering, I can't do anything...really, I feel so useless…" She fretted.

I shook my head. "What are you talking about? You've done a lot for me already when you decided to comfort me, even when you know what I did." I sighed.

She smiled. "You were there to comfort me, even though it was my fault that my beloved familiar died. Even if I can't do much, I'll do what I can to return the favor to you…" She continued in a hushed voice. "...and also...I don't like it when someone important to me is suffering alone…"

"I see…"

I calmed myself down and steeled my nerves.

Okay, breathe in...breathe out…

Here goes.

"I...I like…I love you...very much…" I finally squeaked out.

Her eyes widened and her hand flew to her mouth. "Ah…!" She made a muffled sound. Then, she made the brightest smile as her eyes glimmered. "I...me too. I...I love you too!" She shouted.

As if on cue, the first batch of fireworks went up and exploded, coating the clear night sky with vivid flashes of color. The scene was breathtaking.

"Wah~" She gasped. "It's so pretty~"

"Yeah...yeah, they are." I replied. My heart was pounding, and I was out of breath...but I felt so...happy.

I inched closer towards her. She turned to look at me, and I looked away from her face, too nervous to look at her in the eyes. She also started inching very slowly towards me.

We tensed up when we got close enough that our shoulders touched, but we quickly relaxed. I reached out and held her hand, and she held it. After a few moments, she slowly leaned her body towards me and rested her head on my shoulder.

I started chuckling. "Man, that was nerve-wracking." I said as I reached out with my other hand and patted her hair.

She also giggled. "Yeah. I felt like my heart was about to burst."

"Likewise…"

A few minutes of silence, I spoke up again. "Just like always, I'll try and take some time off from the front lines to help you train, but I can take a bit more time off so we can hang out with each other. Sounds good?" I said.

Silica nodded. "I'll be strong enough to be a Clearer soon, so stay safe...until I can protect you." She whispered.

"That's nice and all, but _I'll_ be the one protecting _you._ " I replied.

"No, I will."

"No, me."

"No, me!"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...pfft. Hehe." She started giggling. I chuckled with her.

"Let's compromise on just protecting each other, yeah?" I finally suggested.

Silica wordlessly nodded with a confident, caring smile.

"Kyuru!" Pina flew off from the side of the bench and laid on Silica's lap.

We looked at her and chuckled.

I found myself looking at her face. She looked up, and our eyes met. I couldn't look away from her.

"..." She slowly closed her eyes and stuck her chin out.

"..." I hesitated for a moment before I leaned in and kissed her.

We broke away, and I felt lightheaded. We turned our attention back to the fireworks, too embarrassed to look at each other.

After a few minutes, I turned to look at her. "...Silica?"

She turned to look at me. "What is it?"

I smiled. "I'm glad I met you."

She smiled back. "I'm glad I met you, too."

And with that, we continued watching the beautiful fireworks blooming on the horizon.

 _ *****  
Chapter End  
**_ _ **Music End…? Nah, Keep it Playing  
**_ _ *******_

A/N: Another one done. Told ya it's a palette cleanser.

Welp. No more turning back now. Their story is nowhere near done, but for now, they're happily admiring the fireworks.

Sorry about adding that heaping spoonful of cheese...but...well...I'm not really sorry.

A Little side note: CHON is an amazing band. They're a prog rock band and their music is mostly instrumental with only a few songs having vocals. Seriously, have a listen. Bubble Dream, Perfect Pillow, Puddle, Fluffy... their stuff is pretty amazing.

Also, another little side note: yeah, I got the name 'Riwet' by slamming my hand on the keyboard.

Update on SAO: Hollow Fragment - I'm liking Philia so far. I also got introduced to a character called Strea, but I haven't hang out very much with her. Technically, I can introduce them to AWE, but I wanna finish the game first.

Speaking of finishing the game, I looked at the how long to beat website, and doing the story + important extras would take me around _150_ hours. Hoo, boy. It'll take me a while to finish it. I don't wanna binge on it because I'm just gonna burn out of SAO, and that'll undoubtedly hurt AWE.

Also, I'm probably not gonna take a lot of stuff out of this game, because most of the events happen at Floor 76 and above, and I've already planned for Floor 75. This gets a bit complicated in Philia's case because a lot of her character development happened in the Hollow Area.

But hey, I'm keeping my options open.

As for the game, it's pretty enjoyable - it's got a bit of depth to it and the combat is satisfying. There's also some costumes and armor you can buy and equip. They're pretty diverse, ranging from sleek clothes, to pretty dresses, to cool plate armor, to...school swim suits...wedding dress...nothing but a button-up shirt?! How scandalous! In all seriousness, those...uh, what do you call them…" special?" armor gives some pretty good stat boosts and have some special buffs, but yeah...nah...

There's also a little dating minigame. You can take the girls around the city and talk...and hold hands...and bridal carry...and "Bed Talk"...I'm sticking with Asuna because I'm playing as Kirito. A Shipper never rests.

However, I do have some nitpicks. Massive drops in framerate when a lot of objects are in the area, only one other person in a party, some sidequests are needlessly tedious, some of the grind can be a slog, etc. With all that in mind, I'm still having fun playing it.

That's all for now. Thank you very much, and have a good one.


	22. CH 21 - Current Affairs

Chapter 21 - Current Affairs

 _October 17, 2024_

She lunged forward and darted to the side, dodging a vertical slice from the monster. Her chestnut hair flowed in response to her sudden action, and Asuna looked forward and eyed her target.

It was an Orc Grunt, a lumbering humanoid monster twice her size. It was wearing a horned helmet and leather armor and was hefting a One-Handed Battleaxe on its monster roared and lunged at her again. She stepped to the side and dodged it by mere centimeters at she prepared her counter attack. She activated Weapon Bash, slamming her rapier's hilt on the orc's solar plexus. It reeled back in pain.

"Godfree-san! Switch!" She shouted.

"Roger that!" Godfree replied as he darted in front and stunned the monster even more.

Wide open for a damaging assault. Godfree jumped back. "Finish it off!" He shouted.

Asuna's Rapier, Lambent Light, glowed a vivid scarlet as she leaped into the air, making three quick stabs on the Orc's chest. The monster braced its sword in front of its chest. Asuna landed and swept twice at the monster's now undefended legs, followed by two swift stabs targeting high and low. "Haa!" She let out a sharp breath and ended her Weapon Skill, Star Splash, with a hefty stab at the monster's center.

The Orc Grunt Dissolved into particles.

"Fuu…." She sighed.

"Well done!" A voice called from behind her.

"Thank y-" She started to say as she turned around and froze.

The player was surrounded by three Orc Grunts. He didn't have his weapon on his hands - it was still strapped to his back. And yet, despite the fact that he was surrounded, he boldly raised his left hand and reached for his glaive.

In response, the three monsters simultaneously roared and descended upon him.

Their axes sparked as they hit each other, with the player seemingly disappearing into thin air.

One of the monsters looked up and received a kick on its face as the player landed nearby. The Orc let out a pained scream at it stumbled in pain, and the player swept the monster's feet away with a roundhouse kick that whooped and cracked like a whip. It wasn't enough to kill the Orc, but sent it flying towards the other Orc. They collided and were knocked down on the ground.

The one Orc left standing roared and swiped at the player in blue. He finally drew out his weapon - a one-handed glaive. He started evading the monster's attacks, occasionally two-handing his glaive to block the Orc's quick jabs while giving jabs of his own.

After a few moments of trading blows, Riwet decided that he had to make an opening on his own. He exhaled sharply and used his armored right arm to deflect the Orc's ax. He raised his left hand and let out two swift attacks, his glaive glowing slightly brighter with each swing. The monster hunkered down and raised its ax to guard.

Riwet unleashed the final hit of his Skill, Three Talon Strike, with a hefty upward swing, destroying the Orc's weapon. The monster was sent hurtling down a short distance away. Riwet rushed towards it and finished it off.

The other two monsters got up and charged at the glaive wielder. He held his glaive in front of him as he blocked the attacks. His glaive, Caerulus, sang and glimmered under the assault, completely at home in the battlefield. He wasn't fast enough to completely block some of the quicker attacks, his armor being marred with small red marks. Still, he kept calm under the onslaught and bid his time.

"...!" As soon as he saw an opening, he breathed sharply and kicked one of the monsters away. He gritted his teeth as he traded hits with the other one to catch it mid-motion, spearing his glaive through its head with a Linear. He took a moment to activate Battle Healing before leaping high up on the air and using Fierce Descent to deliver the killing blow to the other monster.

"Phew…" Riwet exhaled as he rubbed the back of his head. He realized Asuna and Godfree were staring at him intently. "'Something on my face?" He asked.

Asuna sighed. "Why am I not surprised…"

Godfree chuckled. "As expected of the Cobalt."

Riwet shrugged. "Hey. It's easier than it looks. Trust me."

Asuna shook her head disapprovingly before looking at the glaive wielder. "We're done here for today. Let's head back."

They traversed back to the main settlement of the 74th Floor, Kamdet. It was a small city compared to the other Floors' main cities, with only 1-storey buildings and a wide-open central plaza that was the most decorative area in the city. Although the settlement was rural, it didn't have much greenery either, as the only trees seen from the city were from the distant forest area half an hour away. Instead, the area was filled with brown colors - brown buildings, brown stone floor, brown terracotta tire roofs, and surrounded by several brown hills.

Asuna turned towards Godfree. "Please go ahead and return back to base so you can take your break, Godfree-san. I'll just have a quick word with Riwet-kun." Asuna requested.

Godfree smiled and nodded. "I'll see you soon." He said as he made his way to the Teleport Gate.

They approached a nearby bench and sat. Asuna turned to Riwet. "Thank you again for helping us, Riwet-kun." Asuna smiled to him. It had been so long ever since they were able to talk, with them being busy doing their own stuff.

"Anytime, Asuna-san." He replied.

"You can drop the -san when it's a casual conversation, Riwet-kun. You've earned it."

Riwet blinked in surprise before he smiled. "Thanks. That means a lot to me, Asuna."

She nodded. "So, how are you holding up?"

He shrugged. "So far so good, I guess. How about you?"

"There's always so much to do. Scheduling guild activities, overseeing guild finances, keeping in touch with affiliates…" She sighed.

"Speaking of keeping in touch with affiliates, how's Kirito been doing?"

"I haven't seen him in a while."

"...you guys get into a fight or something?"

"No." Asuna quickly retorted, but she racked her mind if she recently said something rude or acted standoffish to Kirito. "...he's not avoiding me, is he?"

Riwet sighed. "Why don't you _look_ for him instead of worrying about it, huh?" He shook his head.

"Alright, alright, I got it, geez…" _What's he annoyed for?_ She thought. "So, will you be doing any more hunting today?" She said, changing the subject.

"Oh, you know. I'll just rest up a bit and go somewhere that's relatively safe…" Riwet muttered.

"Let me guess, the 74th Floor Labyrinth?" She sighed. She knew him all too well.

"...uhhh…" He stalled, trying to think of another place to say.

"Try and be careful, alright? I don't want a repeat of the 71st Floor Labyrinth."

"Oh, _come on_. That was one time! And while I appreciate you giving me a hand back then, I had it under control!" The glaive wielder objected adamantly.

"Yeah, 'under control.' How many times have I heard that?"

"And how many times was I right?"

"You were saying that when you were surrounded by monsters, and you were alone!"

"...and?"

"Riwet-kun…" Asuna made an exasperated sigh. "...you want me to tell Silica-chan?"

"!" Riwet visibly flinched at that.

"Yeah, that's what I thought."

He sighed and raised his hands in resignation. Asuna smiled. Finally, she had a bit of leverage against hi-. "Tell you what. You leave me alone, and I won't tell Kirito that you were checking him out when he dropped something and bent over to pick it up."

"Wh-?!" Asuna sputtered. "Wh, wh, wh, what are you talking about?! He didn't bend over. He bent his knees and crouched down!...ah!" She realized what she had said and covered her mouth.

"...wait, that really happened? I was just kidding around…" He pondered.

Asuna could _feel_ her face steaming. She took a short breath and channeled her embarrassment into fury. " _Riwet-kun…_ " She snarled quietly.

"So that's a deal then?" Riwet said flatly. His expression was normal, but Asuna could tell that he was enjoying this little exchange.

" _Just. Don't. Be. Reckless. All. Right?_ "

"Yes, ma'am." He said before he went on his way.

"Geez..." Asuna grunted, pressing her fingers to her temples. She knew that he could take care of himself, but the least she could do was remind him periodically. She looked at the sky for a moment before she stood up and headed for the Teleport Gate.

Now that she had dealt with Riwet, It was time for Asuna to deal with another troublesome solo player.

 *****  
Loading...Complete  
Changing Perspective: Riwet  
*****

Alright, what did I do right, and what can I improve on?

Well, first off, I didn't die, so that's good. The damage I took was a non-issue because of my Battle Healing and natural HP regen, but I should try and take less time in finding an opening.

But my most glaring failure was that I was unable to do 'that' in the opportune moment.

That's why I'm gonna do 'that' right now.

I closed my eyes and imagined the Orc Grunt as I dealt the finishing blow. I opened my eyes and pointed.

"Heh...looks like you...could've 'axed' for a better weapon."

…

Nailed it. Solid 2 outta 10.

I really need to practice on my one-liners.

Alright, enough of that. Time to resupply and sell stuff.

I went to the main city on the 74th floor and used the Teleport Gate. When my vision cleared, I found myself standing at Algade's plaza.

In quite the contrast with Aurelia's picturesque scenery, Algade's your typical bustling metropolis. It's pretty large, second only to the 1st Floor's Starting City. It was filled with countless alleyways and paths that you could get lost in. Kirito said that he was currently living here for a year, and even he couldn't remember half of the paths.

Regardless, Algade's got it's upsides as well. It was lively and bustling with players, giving off that busy downtown feel. Also, since the city's big, it has a lot of room for shops, be it player or NPC operated. Provided you know where to look, you're likely to find a shop that sells what you're looking for, and then some.

I started walking on one of Algade's main roads. Eventually, I arrived at Agil's place - a small building on the west of the city centre. I went and opened the door, and I was greeted by two familiar faces.

"Yo, Riwet." Agil, the shopkeeper, greeted me as I walked in.

"Yo." I greeted.

"Good evening, Riwet." Another voice greeted me from further inside the store. The greeting was in English, and it was spoken in a weird tone. I looked at the source and saw a tall, heavily armored KoB member with a full-face mask on his face.

"...Mr. Wilhelm?" I asked.

"No, I am Bane." He replied. The mask was distorting his voice, and he was doing the Bane voice from that old Batman movie.

"Bane, huh? Where's Batman when you need him?"

"Peace has cost him his strength. Victory has defeated him."

"Myees~" I replied, also doing the voice.

"Bane~"

"Bane~"

"Bane!"

"Bane!"

"...seriously?" Agil sighed. "He's been at this for an hour. Can you cut me some slack, Riwet?"

"Yes, it must very painful…" Wilhelm reverted back to his vo-"For you." Oh, nevermind.

"See? Also, your English is very good." Agil complimented me.

"Thank you." I said as I sent him a trading invite. "Not gonna bother haggling you, just don't undersell me, alright?"

"Alright. Let's see the goods." He replied as he accepted.

Shopkeeping in SAO's a pretty lucrative business. Players set up shop and displayed all their wares of all shapes, sizes, and rarities.

There were a couple of difference in buying from Player Shops when compared to buying from NPC Shops. NPC Shops only dealt with Cor and had a pretty simple process, but in Player Shops, players could haggle or barter with the shopkeeper.

Also, if they stayed pretty active long enough, shopkeepers would receive an Extra Skill, Merchant's Spirit, which modified the costs to player-to-player transactions. From my understanding, if a player bought 1000 Cor's worth of stuff from a shopkeeper, the shopkeeper would receive 1100 Cor. In addition to that, if a player sold 1000 Cor's of stuff to the shopkeeper, the shopkeeper only needed to pay them 900 Cor. Something like that.

"Hmm…" Agil hummed as he examined items. "I'll give you...this much?" He said as he entered an amount on the Trading screen.

I nodded. "Sounds reasonable." I said as I pressed Accept. I then turned to Wilhelm. "So, you guys just hanging out?" I asked.

Wilhelm removed his mask. "Yeah. I teamed up with him to get something that he needed." He looked at his mask. "That's when I found this little thing of beauty." He grinned.

"Oh, good for you. And how was it?" I quipped before I cracked into a smile. The two also chuckled.

"Gotta admit, that was pretty funny." Agil chimed in. "So, are you heading out?"

I looked at the time. "Well...I could hang out a bit. I've got some time to kill." I glanced at Wilhelm. "But, uh, no more Bane voice for tonight. That okay?"

He grinned. "No promises."

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Changing Perspective: Third Person  
*****

"Hyah!" Nairi shouted as she raised her sword and swung. She wasn't intending to hit the group of five Dire Kobolds in front of her, but it did push them back. Compared to earlier Kobold-type enemies, Dire Kobolds were about the size of players, but their robust plate armor made them bulkier. They were still equipped with very large maces.

The KoB Lieutenant took a deep breath and assessed her options.

"Nairi-san! Let's Switch!" A voice called from behind her.

"Roger that!" She nodded and jumped back. She observed the source of the voice as he darted forward.

"You want a piece of me?! Come and get it!" Sefton shouted as he activated Battle Shout and drew all of their attention towards him. "You know what to do!" He shouted towards his teammates.

His guild leader, Keita, nodded and pointed to their other tank, Tetsuo. "Tetsuo, back Sefton up! Everybody else, on me!" He commanded as they maneuvered to flank the Goblins.

Nairi glanced over to Keita and nodded. He nodded back, and both players took a stance. They simultaneously unleashed their Charge-Type Weapon Skills and tore through the group. While their attack wasn't really that damaging, the group of monsters were blown back, scattered out of formation, and stunned.

Sasamaru dove in first, his Two-Handed Spear glowing from a Weapon Skill. He unleashed a flurry of stabs and killed one of the Kobolds.

One Kobold got up and roared. It made a beeline towards Sachi, its morningstar glowing brightly.

"...!" The spearwoman froze out of fear, but she very quickly regained her bearings and jumped out of the way of the Kobold's Weapon Skill. "Fall!" She roared, unleashing her favored Weapon Skill, Venting Force. "Haaa!" With a loud cry, she stabbed three times before she twirled her spear and made a final, hefty lunging stab. Now two of the five Kobolds were disposed of.

"Nice one, Sacchan!" Nairi cheered. She ran back and regrouped with Keita. They simultaneously unleashed their AOE Weapon Skills and killed the other one.

The two tanks didn't fall behind. "Haa!" Tetsuo and Sefton roared, unleashing a flurry of sword slashes and shield bashes at the fourth Kobold, destroying it.

"!" The last Kobold roared aloud and made a beeline towards the group. As it raised its mace to strike, a streak of blue flew past them.

"Kyururu!" Pina trilled as she blew a cloud of debilitating air towards the monster.

"Seiya!" Silica rushed in and followed through with Draconic Assault, killing the Dire Kobold. "Alright!" She cheered.

The group converged. Keita spoke up. "We've reached our hunting goal for today. Let's heal up and head out before it gets dark." He ordered.

The rest of the group nodded, and after a few minutes of patching up, they started walking towards the exit of the 74th Field Dungeon, Kobold Hideout.

The sun was still high in the air when they reached Kamdet. While they ended up in the city earlier than expected, it was better than being stuck in the frontlines at night.

"Thank you for the assistance today, Nairi-san, Silica-chan." Keita told them.

The two nodded. "The Moonlit Black Cats have been very consistent in assisting KoB. If you need any help in the future, don't hesitate to contact us." Nairi said.

Keita smiled and nodded before the Moonlit Black Cats went on their way.

"Keita-san." She called out.

Keita turned around. "Yes?"

"...i-i-if you're free sometime…" She started in a hushed voice, her face heating up.

"Pardon?"

Nairi cleared her throat and composed herself. "N-never mind." She quipped. She saw them off, trying her best to ignore Sachi's mischievous smile. She then turned towards Silica. "So, how was your first few weeks on the front lines?"

"It was quite challenging, but I think I can handle it." Silica replied.

"That's good. You're strong, Silica. The clearers are happy to have you."

"Thank you very much." Silica smiled. She met Nairi and Asuna a few weeks ago on Lizbeth's smithy. It was just after she had her first experience hunting on the front lines, with Riwet assisting her. After getting to know them, and enduring their teasing, she was invited by the two to group up with them once in awhile.

"Let's head to Agil-san's shop." Nairi said.

"Yes!" She nodded.

As they walked, Silica placed her hand on her breastplate. Tucked behind her armor was a necklace, given to her by Riwet on her birthday. It was made out the same material as Riwet's glaive - an opaque, dark blue crystal with an unassuming sheen. She really liked wearing it.

It was thanks to his guidance that she became a Clearer. Gone was the arrogant, self-absorbed idol who got her partner killed.

She smiled and looked forward, still eager to improve. While she made it to the top, being complacent was the last thing she wanted to be.

 *****  
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Changing Perspective: Riwet  
*****

The door chimes rang, and a person entered the shop.

"Yo, Kirito." Agil greeted him.

"Yo." He replied. He also greeted us before turning his attention to Agil. He wordlessly set up a transaction and put some items in. Wilhelm and I were a bit too far to see the words.

"...an S-class ingredient?!" Agil exclaimed. "I've never even seen one before…"

I whistled. "Good find." Basically, S-class ingredients were food that were so damn delicious that it would put everything else to shame, even if it was cooked by a player with mediocre Cooking Proficiency.

Some players with too much money on their hands were willing to pay exorbitant amounts of Cor to purchase S-Class ingredients. I've collected and sold a bunch of S-class ingredients myself, but I wasn't interested in eating them because I'm afraid that I'd develop a hunger for them. I'm content with easily-acquired or relatively cheap food that would satiate my hunger all the same.

"Hey, Kirito...you're not short on funds, right?" Agil asked. "If you ask me, it's better for you to eat it."

"Well...I'd love to eat it, but who has a high enough Cooking Skill Proficiency to bring the best out of this?" He asked back.

As if on cue, two players entered the store. One of them approached Kirito and tapped him on the shoulder. "Kirito-kun." Asuna said.

Kirito held Asuna's hand. "I've found my chef."

"Wh-what?" Asuna stammered.

I looked at the scene with an amused expression. I noticed the other player, another KoB member, give Kirito the stink-eye. Can't say I know him, so he must be new to the front lines.

Kirito quickly let go of her hand. "It's rare to see you in a rubbish heap like this place." He said. Agil scowled at him from behind.

Asuna looked over to Agil. "It's been a while, Agil-san." She smiled before turning to face our direction. "Riwet-kun. Wilhelm-san." She greeted us. We greeted back, and she nodded before bringing her attention to Kirito, her face turning stern. "It's almost time for the next boss. I just came to see if you were alive."

"I'm on your friends list. You can tell from that." Kirito explained.

Asuna ignored his statement. She looked away and put her hand on her hip. "If you're still alive, then that's good enough." Then, she turned to look at her. "Anyways, so what was that about a chef?" She inquired.

Wilhelm leaned closer to me. "They're quite the item, aren't they?"

I shrugged. "I dunno, they seem to bicker most of the time."

The KoB tank shook his head. "They're practically an old married couple. Makes me remember that one time I pissed my wife off and she told me to sleep on the couch." He chuckled.

"Really?"

"Yeah. When I was sleeping, she woke me up and squeezed into the couch. She hates sleeping alone."

"Heeh…" I hummed. What a romantic and heartwarming sce-

"And then we had sex."

"..."

"What?"

"So...what you're saying is...pissing your significant other off leads to you getting laid?"

"Yeah."

Agil glanced over us and made a disapproving look at Wilhelm. The KoB tank chuckled.

Kirito turned back towards Agil. "Sorry, Agil. I won't be selling it after all."

Agil held his hand out. "We're buddies, right? Just a little taste..."

"I'll write a two-page report on its taste." Kirito said as he turned around and left the store. Asuna and the other KoB player followed suit.

"Oh, come on!" Agil grunted.

Asuna and her bodyguard followed Kirito outside the store. Wilhelm walked towards Agil. "Hey, if nothing else, I've got a couple of Dire Scorpion Meat here. I just grilled them this morning. They taste like chicken~."

Agil sighed before he grinned. "I'll bust out the craft beer. Non-alcoholic, of course."

Wilhelm turned towards me. "You want some, Riwet?"

"Any strings attached?" I asked.

"Of course there is. You have to join KoB first."

"...that goes same for Agil?"

"Nope."

"..."

"It's a joke if you haven't caught on already."

"...yeah, I'll take one. Also, what's with the bodyguard?"

"Oh, the highest-ranking members of KoB, for some reason, need to have a bodyguard with them at all times."

"And you don't?"

He grinned "I've made it quite clear that I don't appreciate being forced to have someone tail me."

"Lots of people would've wanted to hang out with you." I pointed out.

"And if they wanna hang out with me, they can. But sometimes I wanna talk to personal friends or even have a nice walk out alone without having a tag-along. Is having me-time really that much to ask?"

"Now that, I can agree with."

The door opened once again, and two players entered the door.

Nairi and Silica.

I couldn't help by feel my face relax as I looked at her. "Hey." I greeted her.

"Good evening." She greeted back.

"Kyururu!" Pina flew over and perched on my shoulder.

"Hey, buddy." I stuck my hand out to her, and she nuzzled on my hand.

"Good evening, Riwet-san, Wilhelm-san, Agil-san." Nairi bowed. "We're here to resupply and sell items."

"Gotcha." Agil replied.

After making the trades, Nairi walked closer and chatted with Wilhelm while Silica stood in front of me.

"You keeping yourself safe?" I asked.

She nodded. "Yes!"

I smiled silently around her. I noticed the cord wrapping around her neck. I'm glad that she liked my present.

" _Why do birds suddenly appear...everytime...you are near~"_ Wilhelm started signing.

I blushed and looked away from Silica. She tilted her head. "It's a love song. He's making fun of us." I explained.

"Oh…" She also started blushing.

" _Just like me, they long to be...close to you~_ "

I turned towards Wilhelm. "You know, I should be angry at you, but you have a really nice voice, so I'll let it slide, Wilhelm-san." I stated. I also just noticed that Agil and Nairi were silently observing the scene, with the two of them trying to hide their grins.

Wilhelm chuckled. "Thanks." He turned towards Nairi. "Let's head back to base." When she nodded, he turned back towards us. "Alright, gotta go. See you later."

We waved at him as they exited the store. "It's also time for us to go. I'll see you later, Agil." I said as we left.

As we started walking, I turned towards Silica. "So, how was your excursion with Nairi and the Cats?" I asked her.

"It went really well!" She smiled.

I returned the smile. "That's good, but don't push yourself too hard. You should rest for tonight." I said to her. While she was acting cheerful as usual, her eyes were slightly droopy and she was stifling her yawns.

"Thank you. How about your day, Riwet?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary. I'll walk you to your house, eat, and head out for some night hunting."

She pouted. "Even though you were telling me not to push myself too hard…"

"Hey, it's normal for me. I'll stay in the relatively safe areas."

As we were walking towards the Teleport Gate, another batch of familiar faces greeted me. "Oi! Riwet. It's been a long time!" The guy in front said.

"Yo, Klein." I greeted back. "Also, two weeks is not a long time."

"Oh, come on. Don't be like that." The group walked towards me. Klein noticed Silica. "Oh, what do we have here?"

I pointed towards her. "This is Silica. She recently became a Clearer. Silica, this is Klein of the Fuurinkazan. They're a pretty good guild, but they do some weird stuff sometimes." I elaborated.

"Oi! Oi!" Klein retorted.

I chuckled. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding."

Silica stepped forward and bowed. "It's nice to meet you." She's so polite.

Klein also bowed. "Pleased to meet you, too."

"Wait, Silica? The Dragon Master, Silica?!" Dynamm spoke up.

"Yeah. Same girl." I proudly replied.

"It is! It really is!" The group started to rush towards her. "I'm a big fan!" "I'm so happy to meet you."

"Hey! Calm down, you guys!" I rushed in front of Silica and blocked group from swarming her. Fortunately, we were in an empty alleyway and nobody else was gawking at the scene. I turned towards Silica. "Yeah, they're good people, they just get fired up

Unfortunately, someone accidentally kneed me in the crotch.

"Gh!" I grunted. Alright. No more Mr. Nice Guy. "I SAID BACK THE HELL UP!" I shouted at the top of my lungs and used my arms to shove them back. I reached behind me and held the grip of my Knife.

I don't know about other people, but I tend to lose my cool when my genitals were in danger.

"Whoa! Why are you pushing us away?" The group complained.

"One of you bastards kneed me between the legs!" I shouted.

"It's because you're in the way!"

"I'm in the way because you're gonna trample her!"

"Why are you hogging her? Who do you think you are, her bodyguard?!"

"I'm her _boyfriend,_ thank you very much!" I roared.

"...eh?" The group was stunned.

"..." I felt my face heat up once I actually caught a breath and realized what I had just said. I brought my fist to my face and cleared my throat. "A-anyways, if you want to talk to her, do it properly. Form a line, greet her and say what you have to say and move on. Have some class, gentlemen." I elaborated.

They looked amongst themselves and sighed before they formed a line. Good.

"Uwoooh~ how manly~" Klein whistled.

"Shut up." I huffed.

The next few minutes went by smoothly. No one was squeeing, no one was rowdy, any most importantly, Silica wasn't overwhelmed.

"So, are you guys done for tonight?" I spoke to Klein.

"Yeah. We're planning on hitting the Labyrinth tomorrow. You wanna come with?" Klein offered.

Hmmm… "Sure." I nodded.

Silica stepped forward. "Can I...come with you?" She slowly asked.

Klein shrugged. "It's fine for us, but…" He trailed off as he looked at me.

I turned to Silica. "You sure about this?" I asked.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she looked me in the eyes. "Yes."

I turned back towards the guild. "You heard the lady."

Klein nodded. "Alright. Tomorrow, 10:30 on Kamdet's Teleport Gate. Don't be late!" He said to us before they went on their way.

 *****  
Loading...Complete  
Changing Perspective: Third Person  
*****

"Dude come on, why don't you believe us? Nairi-san clearly likes you." Sasamaru teased Keita, jabbing him with his elbow.

"Alright, knock it off. You're clearly misunderstanding things." Keita grunted.

"Are we? Are we really?" Tetsuo chimed in. "And what if we're right?"

"..." Keita was at a loss for words. He cleared his throat and composed himself. "Seriously, stop. And even if you're true, I'm too busy handling you idiots." He grunted as he shook Sasamaru off.

Sasamaru shook his head incredulously before turning to Sefton. "Any advice you can give? You're the only one here that's in a relationship."

Sefton shrugged. "It's only my personal opinion, but I think you should just go for it." He responded honestly. "If we were wrong about liking her, then you move on. It's going to be awkward, but that's only for a little while. But if we were right, then that's good news." He smiled. "And you don't need to worry about us. We'll pull our own weight for your sake."

"So cool~" Sasamaru, Tetsuo, and Sachi simultaneously cooed.

Keita sighed. "Alright. You all have made your point. I'll think about it seriously. Happy?" The rest of them nodded. "Good. The next one to tease me about it gets the privilege to clean the HQ for a month!"

They finally reached the Teleport Gate. "So, heading out to Lindarth?" Sachi said to Sefton.

Sefton couldn't help but smile. "Yeah."

"Tell her I said hi, okay?" She smiled.

"I will."

"And also give us a special discount for our next visit!" Sasamaru jeered.

The amber paladin chuckled. "I'll see what I can do."

Sefton saw them off before he teleported to Lindarth. He strolled towards Lizbeth's Smith Shop and opened the door.

"Hey there, Sefton." Lizbeth greeted him with a warm smile.

"Hey, Liz." He replied. "Keeping yourself safe?"

"I slipped and I fell. It really hurt..." She said in a sweet voice, before sighing and looking at him incredulously. "Really, _I_ should be the one asking you that."

Sefton raised his hand in a placating manner. "Hey, chill. While it's my job to soak up the damage, I am completely safe."

"And how are you so sure about that?"

"Because the greatest blacksmith of SAO is the one tending my weapons, that's why." He proudly proclaimed.

"Wh-Hey!" Lizbeth was caught off guard with the statement. "Praising me won't get you anything, you know!"

He chuckled. "I know, I know. You had dinner yet?"

"Not yet."

"Oh, perfect timing, then." He noted as he materialized two bento boxes and gave one to her.

"Thanks." Lizbeth said as she set the status of the Shop as Closed. "Let's go eat at the Workshop."

"Right behind you."

As they walked behind the counter and down a flight of stairs, Lizbeth spoke up. "Alright, you win. Bringing dinner was really thoughtful of you. I'll treat you to a good dinner place next time."

"Well…" Sefton started. "Instead of that...maybe...cook for me? Please?" He pleaded.

"...alright. Next time, I'll cook a meal so delicious that it'll knock your socks off!" She promised.

The amber paladin smiled at the pink-haired blacksmith. "I'll be looking forward to that."

Lizbeth smiled back, and they started eating the boxed meal.

 *****  
Loading...Complete  
*****

"I've spent two years in SAO, but this is the first time I've had an S-class ingredient." Asuna sighed contentedly. "I'm glad to have survived this long."

"Yeah…" Kirito wholeheartedly agreed. They had just finished eating the stew Asuna made out of the Ragout Rabbit Meat. It was easily the most delicious meal he had during his time in SAO.

Asuna stared silently at her cup. "It's strange...it feels like I was born and raised here all my life." She mused.

"Yeah..." Kirito agreed with her. "Recently, fewer and fewer people have been giving their all to clear the game."

"Less than five hundred people have been actively clearing the front lines…everyone's gotten accustomed to this world..." Kirito added as looked at his own cup. In the past, he really did want to get out as soon as possible...but now...he wasn't too sure. There were times when he felt comfortable just existing in this world.

Considering that he was gone for so long, did he even have a place in the real world?

"...But I want to go back." She declared. "There are a lot of things I never had the chance to do there."

Kirito was surprised at Asuna's statement, but he quickly collected himself. "That's right. Unless we do our best, it's not fair to the players who are supporting us." He said.

Asuna was right. They have to get out of there. While he had become comfortable in this death game, there were a lot of people like her that wanted to live in the real world.

Kirito drank a mouthful of tea and cleared his head. He looked up at Asuna, trying to pick the appropriate words to express his gratitude. However, he found himself lost in thought as he stared at Asuna's face. She was certainly attractive, with a small face surrounded by long chestnut hair, and a pair of dazzling, hazel colored eyes. The dining room's orange-tinted lighting only served to accentuate her beauty.

Asuna caught him staring at her and she frowned. "U-um...stop." She said as she waved her hand in a placating manner.

"...eh?" Kirito tilted his head.

"Lots of people wear that expression when they confessed to me."

"Wh-?!" And so, the Black Swordsman of SAO was reduced to a flustered, sputtering heap from a simple statement.

"Hehe." She giggled. "From the looks of things, you aren't close to any other girls except for Sacchan."

Kirito could do nothing but hide his blush. "It's fine. I'm a solo player, after all." He grunted adamantly.

"...you don't want to join a guild, Kirito-kun?" Asuna asked quietly. "I understand that solo players like you can't get used to groups, but ever since we hit the 70th Floor, the monsters' patterns have become more and more unpredictable...there are situations where it's just not practical for players to fight solo."

"I keep a solid safety margin." Kirito explained. "Also, I don't see you convincing Riwet to join a guild."

"But I do, though. Also, Riwet-kun is different. While he doesn't have as much DPS or Evasion as you, he has pretty good armor and Blocking. His versatile build and playstyle keeps him safe. Plus, he's an okay teammate."

"Most party members only slow me down, though." Kirito remarked offhandedly.

"Oh, really?" He heard her say before a silver streak cut the hair in front of him. Asuna's dinner knife was held just in front of his nose.

Kirito raised his hands. "That's why I said 'most'. You're obviously an exception."

"Hmph." She pulled the knife away from his face and spun it around with her fingers. "Then party with me. It's been a long time since we grouped up, and as the head of the boss party, I need to see if you're keeping up with your training. Also, my lucky color this week is black."

"What? What's with that? What about your guild?"

"It's not like we have any leveling quotas."

"And your bodyguard?"

"I'll ditch him."

Kirito raised his teacup to his mouth to bide some time, but he realized that it was empty. Asuna took it from him and refilled his cup before handing it back to him with a smug expression on her face. She set down the glass pitcher and sent an invite to him.

To be completely honest, it was an attractive offer. Almost any guy would want to party up with Asuna. And it goes double for Kirito because _she_ wants to party up with _him_.

And that was exactly why he was conscious. Why would someone like her want to group up with someone like him?

 _Maybe she feels sorry for me because I'm a lonely solo player_. He thought. He knew that Asuna wasn't a person that could think like that, but he was mentally spiraling downwards, his head filling with negative thoughts.

"The front lines are dangerous." He said flatly.

Kirito regretted saying those words as soon as they left his mouth. Half of it was because of he just low-key belittled Asuna's ability, and half of it was because Asuna's knife once again went up in front of his face. He immediately accepted her invite.

Asuna answered with a warm, confident smile as she pulled the knife away.

 *****  
Chapter End  
*****

A/N: And another chapter done. I'm pretty happy with what turned out, but I had to start from scratch a couple of times because my previous ideas weren't any good. Really frustrating.

Guest review - Color me intrigued.

NotRoger - You'd think that I got 'Riwet' from 'Roderick Minett', but it's actually the other way around. I got 'Riwet' first (by bashing my fingers on my keyboard) and tried to make a profile name out of that. The only thing I modified was turning W upside down into an M.

What I got was this:

"Rod **ri** ck **M** in **et** t"

And the rest was history.

So, I finished Philia's storyline in SAO: Hollow Fragment. It was awesome and heartwarming, but just like I suspected, her storyline is directly related to SAO glitching out. It's possible to make a similar scenario, but it's gonna be tricky.

On the other hand, Sinon and Leafa were sucked into SAO, and their personality remained more or less the same.

Unfortunately, I found another nitpick in Hollow Fragment. The game has too many events where the other girls are... _intimate_ to Kirito. See, that's one of my very few nitpicks about SAO - the fact that _almost every single female character_ is shipped with Kirito when Asuna was very, _very_ clearly slated to be 'The' love interest. The original Light Novel and Anime versions handle this part better than the game, but it's still a bit too much. It reminds me of an anime adaptation of a visual novel. Hell, Hollow Fragment is an RPG that's also trying to be that.

Please remember, this is not me throwing shade at people who like to ship Kirito with the other heroines. It's just my own personal opinion. Either make a straightforward harem genre where everyone has an equal chance of being with the MC, or stick with one official pairing and make the others purely platonic and supportive.

That was the reason why I wrote that little conversation with Riwet and Asuna. I want to practice writing strong non-romantic chemistry between characters of differing genders. You can be completely chummy with a person opposite your gender without being romantically involved with each other, regardless of your own respective preferences.

One final note - I don't know if you've noticed it or not, but I have uploaded the last few chapters of AWE with more or less a 20-25 day gap, even though I said that I have a 30-day update schedule. Well...life commitments are starting to pick up, and my schedule would most likely change. In my current situation, a 30-day update could still be feasible, but I'll most likely update chapters every 35-40 days from now if I'm being completely honest.

However, I _guarantee_ that my updates will still be consistent. There's being caught up in real life commitments, and then there's being inefficient with your time.

That's all for now. Thank you very much, and have a good one.


	23. Supplemental 2

Supplemental 2

 **Fantasy Gallery**

 _Fantasy image -_ *a view of an unnamed floor, with lush mountains in the distance and breathtaking plains nearby. In the plains is a player wearing a jet-black coat. His back is turned to the image."

 _Fantasy Image -_ *Sobek is in the center of the frame, its head arched up and roaring intensely. While other players are running away in fear, three players face it - a swordsman clad in black, a female rapier user with striking chestnut colored hair, and a left-handed glaive wielder clad in blue.

 _Fantasy Image -_ *A forest area filled with snow. In the nearby clearing, the vague shape of a figure lying on the snow could be made out.

 _Fantasy Image -_ * A grassy knoll. Silica is sleeping comfortably while lying on a bench, with Pina asleep on top of her. The Cobalt Coat is draped over her shoulders. Riwet is sitting nearby, absently looking at the sunset as he yawns.

 _Fantasy Image -_ * The inside of Lizbeth's Smith Shop. Lizbeth is busy hammering a piece of metal on her anvil while Sefton is arranging her stuff that is scattered on the floor.

 _Fantasy Image_ \- * The outside of a cafe. Asuna, Silica, Lizbeth, Nairi, and Sachi are all bunched up on a table, happily chatting as they drink coffee and eat cake.

 _Fantasy Scene -_ ***** Asuna is walking on a beautiful grassy knoll. From behind her, Kirito mischievously pokes her sides. She let outs a weird-sounding moan before she turns around and slaps Kirito as hard as she can. Kirito gracefully pirouettes mid-air before landing headfirst on the ground.

 *******  
Some small snippets that I thought up. Little images/scenes that build on the world and/or the characters. I've got some more in the works.

 **Onward!**  
 *******

 **BFC - Yeah, baby!**

"Don't worry Sachi, your mo….mo…" Kirito trailed off like a broken record as he shakily pointed his finger at Sachi's...beauty mark.

Kirito felt like his mind turned into putty. There's something...unnatural about Sachi's Mo- BEAUTY MARK.

Sefton tried to salvage the situation. "Moooost."

"Most! Most likely to succeed! Yes. Very much likely to improve!" Kirito rapped, using every ounce of his sanity to look away. He shot a grateful glance to Sefton, who replied with a silent thumbs up.

However, the eldritch abomination had something in mind.

 _Vhascometo$ () &%oneringtorulethemall(%&#)$(somebodyoncetoldmetheworldwasgonnarollme*$() #&!yaranaika?!90438204832049merumerumerumerumerume~-3$%*(#)%&*__ Kirito was bombarded with information. Voices, messages, images flooded his mind. Too fast to comprehend...too many to store.

"?" Sachi tilted her head.

" _ **Mol**_ _ **é!**_ _ **Mol**_ _ **é!**_ _ **Mol**_ _ **é!**_ _ **Mol**_ _ **é!**_ _ **Mol**_ _ **é**_!" Kirito screamed as he lost consciousness, his sanity - no, his _soul,_ the very essence of his existence - torn away from his physical, and virtual, body.

 _*Itsumo hitori de aruiteta..._

 ** _***  
_** BFC (Brain Fart Chronicles) are a collection of my ideas that quite...out there. Technically, the Supplementals already achieve that, but BFC is there to collect my ideas that are a league _dumber_.

Also, Aoi Tada's Brave song is totally the Japanese version of Imogen Heap's Hide and Seek.

 **Onward!  
*****

 **A Day Out - Tsundere Module**

"Hey! Wake up! It's morning!" Silica said as he opened the windows of my room. I heard wings fluttering from further away from the room.

"Mnnn.." I grunted, sitting up and cradling my head sleepily. I looked to the side and saw Pina hovering in a few feet away.

"Good morning." She said, folding her arms across her chest.

"Good morning." I stood up and patted her head.

"! D-don't pat me all of a sudden just because you feel like it!" She replied, blushing a deep shade of red.

"Sorry, sorry." I chuckled.

"H-hmph!" She scoffed and turned away. "How long were you about to sleep! Geez! I had to wait for an hour for you, you know!"

I groaned and checked the time. "Wait...isn't it 15 minutes early? Did you…?" I trailed off.

"I-it's not like I came early to watch you sleep or anything!"

"Silica."

"What?"

"I love you."

She blushed harder and looked at me. " W-well, I love you more!...ah!" She realized what she was saying. "S-stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Stupidstupidstupid!" She shouted as she flailed her fists at me.

"Hahaha." I chuckled. She already looked cute enough, but her reactions were irresistible.

Suddenly, she reached her hands around me and glomped me. She head was hunched downward so I couldn't see her expression. "F-for the record, I meant what I said." She whispered.

"Same for me." I replied, embracing her body with my right hand as I gently patted her head with my left. We spent a few minutes silently embracing each other before we broke away. "Hey. Time for us to go. Let's finish this quick so we'll have free time."

She nodded excitedly as she flashed a radiant, cheeky grin at me.

We spent the next two hours hunting monsters. I let her last hit most of the enemies, but she's progressing way faster than I expected.

"You've really improved these past few weeks. Good job." I praised Silica. Pina was perched on my right shoulder.

"Fufun~ Who do you think you're talking to?" She replied cheekily.

After that, we spent the day just relaxing. Time flies when I'm with her.

I peered at her eyes and smiled.

"H-hmph!" She folded her arms and looked away, trying to hide her embarrassment. However, not even two seconds passed before she slowly turned her head towards me. "...I love you…" She muttered, her face red.

It's like the world's a couple of times warmer whenever I'm with her.

But just like all good things, they eventually come to an end.

As the sunset was glowing, I stood up reluctantly. "So...I'll be leaving now…" I trailed off. I'm needed at the front lines.

"…" Her eyes were downcast for a split second before she hid it under a gruff exterior. "Hmph! You better make me proud out there, you hear me?" I immediately felt guilty because I was leaving her again so soon.

I approached her and patted her head again. "I'm sorry."

Her haughty demeanor melted, and she looked at me worriedly. "No, don't be...just...promise me that you'll be safe, alright?" She pleaded as she looked up and peered at me between the gaps of her bangs.

I held her close. "I will. I promise."

 _ *****  
**_ Tsunderes. A popular character archetype. Irritable ( _tsuntsun_ ) one moment, then loving ( _deredere_ ) the next. I've become a bit leery of them since I've seen a lot of tsunderes play up the domestic violence so high that it's not even funny. Though, their main leads are also to blame, since they more often than not push their buttons too hard too many times. However, when done with care and consideration, they are most certainly darlings.

 **Onward!  
*****

 **A Day Out - Withdrawn Module**

My eyes were closed, but my mind was very much awake.

Because ladies and gentlemen, my girlfriend was sneaking a kiss from my supposedly asleep body.

I grunted and stirred, giving enough time for her to back away and compose herself.

"Good morning." Silica said slowly as she eyed me, silently trying to hide her brush.

"Good morning." I replied, walking close to her patting her head.

"Hn... it feels nice…" She whispered as she looked up at me. Her lips curled into a slight smile.

"Sorry. I didn't oversleep, didn't I?"

"...no...I was too early…"

I nodded and sat on the bed, checking my items and prepping my equipment. She sat down next to me and did the same.

We both finished sorting our stuff. She looked at me and inched closer. I smiled and inched closer to her as well. Our shoulders touched, and we leaned on each other. I put my hand over hers, and she squeezed it slightly.

It's kinda weird that we get along so well together. She isn't one for small talk, but then again, neither am I. When it comes to interacting with other people, she hides her emotions by being expressionless, and I hide my emotions by pretending that I care.

And yet, when I'm close to her, I feel so comfortable. I hope that she feels the same, but the small, comfortable smile she was giving me right now eases my worries.

It's like the world's a couple of times warmer whenever I'm with her.

A few minutes passed before we broke away. "Let's go." I said. She nodded silently.

We spent the next two hours hunting monsters. I let her last hit most of the enemies, but she's progressing way faster than I expected.

"You've really improved these past few weeks. Good job." I praised Silica. Pina was perched on my right shoulder.

"Thank you..." She replied with a small smile.

After that, we spent the day just relaxing. Time flies when I'm with her. It's weird. We don't talk much when we hang out, but I felt that we don't have to. If I'm gonna describe what I'm feeling right now, it would be perfectly comfortable, perfectly warm silence.

But just like all good things, eventually, they come to an end.

As the sunset was glowing, I stood up reluctantly. "So...I'll be leaving now…" I trailed off. I'm needed at the front lines.

Silica looked at me and silently nodded.

I nodded back and turned around, but before I could leave, I felt something tug at the sleeve of my coat. I turned around and saw that Silica was the one grabbing me. "..." She had this unnaturally helpless and pleading look on her face, all but verbally saying 'please don't go'. "..." She realized what she was doing and looked away from me, and her grip slowly softened. But when she was about to let go, her grip tightened once again. "..."

I placed my hand over hers, wordlessly telling her that I should really go. She let go of my sleeve and hung her hand down, dejected.

"..." She wordlessly stared at me.

…

Screw it. Anything that I'm about to do can wait.

I walked towards her and wrapped my arms around her. "I'll be back. I promise."

"..." She hugged me back and nodded. "...come back soon…"

 _ *****  
**_ Sister module the Emotionless Girl or Rei Ayanami Expy Archetype - characters who hide their emotions by showing as little emotion as possible. Comparable to Kuuderes like Sinon who hide their emotions by being stoic, cold, and/or aloof.

'A Day Out' is me wanting to practice on how to write these kinds of character archetypes, and also a way for me to practice writing romantic fluff. I have more planned.  
 *******

 **A/N:** That's another Supplemental done. You know, I thought that writing these would just burn me out, it turns out to be a good little palette cleanser from the main chapters.

That's all for now. Onwards!


	24. CH 22 - The Gleam Eyes

Chapter 22 - The Gleam Eyes

 _October 18, 2024_

"Oi, Riwet! Over here!" Klein called from the side. Everybody was already there.

I nodded and went towards them. "Good morning!" I greeted them.

"Good morning!" They all greeted back.

"We all ready to head out?" I asked. They nodded. "Well, let's go."

So, the 74th Floor Labyrinth, huh? Well, at least the Fuurinkazan's backing us up.

As we started to head towards the Teleport Gate, Klein came to my side and spoke up. "Hey, have you heard? Apparently about an hour ago, a KoB member got his ass handed to him by a solo player here. Something about the KoB player strong-arming another KoB player to come with him." Klein gossiped.

"Huh..." I muttered. KoB was usually a closely-knit guild. Disputes inside the guild did happen, but they're mostly resolved privately.

We Teleported to the 74th Labyrinth entrance, which was carved into one of the mountains in this Floor. We steeled ourselves as we entered the Labyrinth. The inside consisted of obsidian-like stone walls and a very smooth path. A lot of multicolor paths stretched and branched off in all directions like branches in a tree. Wilted white trees grew along the paths.

I heard Pina trill excitedly. I locked eyes with Silica and we both nodded at each other. "Enemies! Just beyond that turn!" Silica announced, taking up a stance as she drew her knife. We followed suit. After a few seconds, a group of monsters appeared from the wall obstructed by the turning path.

Three Lizardman Lords and three Demonic Servants.

A Demonic Servant took the appearance of a skeletal swordsman, over two meters tall and surrounded by an eerie blue light. It carried around a huge straight sword in its right hand and a round metal shield nn its left.

A Lizardman Lord was a humanoid lizard-like creature with bluish scales, a long tail, and glowing red eyes. It wore a set of armor consisting of a helmet and breast plate. It carried a scimitar in its right hand and a round shield on its left.

"Any suggestions?" I asked.

"We can corner them and unleash our AoE Weapon Skills, but bunching that big of a group is gonna be tricky..." Klein pointed out.

"...I'll draw two of them out and finish them off while you guys take care of the other five. Then you come help me once you're done with that. Sounds good?" I offered.

"Will you be alright?" Silica shot me a concerned look. Since this was the front line Labyrinth, she must be hesitant towards me doing these kinds of tactics.

"Don't worry about it, Silica-chan. Riwet's gonna be fine." Klein assured her.

"But…"

"Kyururu!" Pina chattered as she flew away from her master's shoulder.

"Pina?" Silica asked before she suddenly realized something. "I see!" She exclaimed before turning to me. "Pina will back you up."

I looked at the two of them and I nodded. Pina quickly flew to my side. I smiled at her before I turned my attention to the others. " Alright, let's do this!"

Klein and Dynamm drew out Throwing Knives and hurled them towards the group. It hit them for negligible damage, but that sure got their attention.

They roared and approached us. Everyone except for me inched their way towards the monsters. I hung back and assumed a half-crouching stance.

Almost there…

Just a little bit more...

Now!

As soon as the two groups made contact, I kicked off and ran towards them at an angle, aiming for the nearby wall. I leaped and bounced off the wall, landing cleanly with a roll on the other side of the group. Pina followed closely behind me.

I had enough stats to just jump overhead, but I didn't want to take risks and draw aggro prematurely. But now that I'm behind them…

Time to get to work.

I snuck up from the flank and kicked one of the Lizardman Lords in the back before I jumped back. It turned around and roared towards me. One of the Demonic Servants also changed its attention towards me.

Just as planned.

The others moved as soon as they saw me lure the two. They slowly surrounded the monsters, pinning them against the wall. The others lashed out with their attacks, but not enough to break through the group.

I turned my attention back to the two monsters who were eyeing me up. Demonic Servants were known to have a weakness against impact-type weapons, such as maces, and strong against swords due to them having hardened bones and no flesh. And while Lizardman Lords were vulnerable against slashes and thrusts, its shield was strong against them, but were weak against impact-type weapons.

I left my glaive sheathed while I clenched my hands. Generally, unarmed combat and Martial Arts Skills dealt impact-type damage. Time to give 'em the old one-two.

I darted towards the skeleton and raised my fist. It preemptively swung in an attempt to catch me. I ducked under the blow and swung my elbow upwards. The skeleton reeled back. Pina further stunned it by breathing a stream of debilitating bubbles at it.

The Lizardman roared and went in, its Scimitar glowing as it unleashed a charge-type Weapon Skill. I reached behind me and drew out my knife - a Mirrorblade Rondel Dagger I got from Lizbeth. I held it in front of me and used it to deflect the scimitar slightly while I twisted my body away from the attack. I brought my knee and slammed it on its shield. The monster's shield darted back as it staggered, revealing its weak points.

My knife glowed and I stabbed it deep in its hip. The lizardman screamed in pain as it retaliated with a wild swing, which I easily evaded. I kept close to it as I attacked, physically prying away its shield and laying into it while Pina's Healing Breath and my armor nullified its offense.

After a few moments of trading blows, I decided to mix it up and deal some big boy damage. I exhaled sharply as I kicked the Lizardman in the solar plexus. While the monster reeled back, I sheathed my Knife and drew out Caerulus, unleashing Pale Derision on the monster's already damaged leg, completely severing it from its body before I finished it off while it limped around.

Nice.

I turned my attention back to the skeleton who had just recovered from its paralysis. I ducked under its attack and use its momentum to throw it to the ground. I kicked its sword and shield away while I impaled my glaive into its arm, pinning it to the ground. Before the skeleton was able to pry it off, I mounted it and started bashing its head in with my fists until it turned to dust.

Very nice.

I turned around and saw that my companions were finishing stuff up. All of them simultaneously activated their Area of Effect Weapon Skills towards the group of monsters who were trapped and cornered. Suffice to say that by the time they were done, not a single shred of the monsters remained.

After taking a moment to rest, we continued on exploring the Labyrinth. Silica was doing really well in hunting with us. While it was her first time being in the very tip of the clearing effort, she wasn't lagging behind us who were doing this thing for a very long time.

Eventually, we came upon a safe area - a fairly large open area deep inside the Labyrinth. We breathed a sigh of relief as we entered. I could go on for a bit more, but I ain't complaining.

Huh, there's already someone there…

…

Wait...is that...?

That's definitely Kirito and Asuna. "Oi! Kirito!" Klein called out.

Kirito stood up and greeted him back. "Yo, Klein. You're still alive?" He quipped. He noticed me in the crowd and nodded at me before his eyebrows curled in curiosity, wordlessly asking why I'm playing with a group. I nodded back and shrugged.

"You're still as foul-mouthed as ever, Kirito!" Klein retorted. "Oh, what do we have here? You're always playing solo so why are you in a par...ty..." His eyes went wide as he saw Asuna, who had also stood up and had her hand on her rapier.

"Uh...you already met each other during the boss fights, but I'll introduce you two anyway." Kirito started, looking at Asuna as he pointed to Klein. "This is Klein from the Fuurinkazan," He turned towards Klein and then pointed at Asuna, "And this is Asuna from the Knights of the Blood." Asuna nodded lightly after Kirito's introduction.

Klein just stood there, slack-jawed and stunned. "Hey, say something…" Kirito said, waving his hands in front of Klein's face. "Are you lagging?"

The next moment, Klein suddenly straightened up. Then, he bowed low and held his hand out towards Asuna. "N-Nice t-to meet you! I-I'm Klein, 24, single, looking for a girlfr-"

Kirito swooped in and slugged Klein in the gut. It didn't look like it was a powerful hit, but Klein got caught by surprise and was knocked to the ground. Since we were in a safe zone, his HP didn't decrease and Kirito didn't get the dreaded orange cursor.

Soon after that, the rest of the Fuurinkazan rushed up and began introducing themselves to Asuna, with Kirito holding them at bay.

I heard Silica giggle. "It's just like yesterday."

"Yep." I chuckled with her before I started to walk towards them, motioning to Silica to do the same.

Kirito turned his head to look at Asuna. "W-well, they're not bad guys...despite what their leader looks like…" He explained to her in a strained voice. "Gh!" He grimaced as Klein got up and stepped on his foot.

"Heh, payback!" Klein grinned cheekily as he joined his teammates in shoving Kirito.

"Kh! You…"

Asuna silently watched the scene before she giggled.

Klein and Kirito looked at her before they looked away and bunched up, the redhead draping his arm over Kirito's shoulder. "Hey, what's going on here, Kirito?" Klein asked.

"Nice to meet you. I'm just partying up with him for a while." Asuna said from behind them.

The Fuurinkazan's faces fluctuated between anger and depression. "Kirito! Explain!" Klein shouted.

Kirito raised his hands in a placating manner. "Wait! Uhh…" He said as he anxiously tried to find the words to explain his situation

Asuna noticed Silica and I walking towards them. "Ah! Silica-chan!" She exclaimed as she jogged towards us.

Silica smiled and bowed. "Hello, Asuna-san!" She greeted her politely.

"Asuna-san." I greeted her briefly.

"Riwet-kun." she replied before turning her attention back to SIlica.

As I watched the two chat, I realized just how much Asuna had changed ever since I first met her. She went from a cold and distant rookie who didn't know much about SAO, to a cold and distant veteran player who essentially led the clearing effort, to a still stern but now caring person who would banter with me. Not sure who should I thank for that, but I got the feeling that Kirito helped in a big way.

The others came closer. I looked at Silica as I pointed to Kirito. "This is Kirito. A strong solo player and a good friend of mine." I then looked at Kirito as I pointed to Silica. "This is Silica and her partner, Pina. She recently joined the Clearers." I introduced the two.

Silica bowed. "Nice to meet you." She said with a smile.

Kirito smiled back. "Likewise."

"Kyururu..." Pina hovered around Kirito for a few seconds before she returned to SIlica's side.

"So, now that we're done with the introductions…" I announced as I turned around and motioned with my head to point at the road in the distance - the one we had just traveled.

The others turned alert as a group of twelve heavily armored men entered the safe zone. They were all wearing the same black metal armor and green battle garb, with visors covering half their face from the nose upwards. Half of them were equipped with swords and shields while the other half had halberds.

The esteemed knights of the Aincrad Liberation Force.

Well, about as esteemed as you can get from a guild that bullies other players out of lucrative farming spots. And also is currently in a power struggle between their top leaders Thinker and Kibaou.

Question is, whose side are you on?

The man in front raised his hand. "At ease." He ordered, at which point everyone in his group except for him collapsed in exhaustion. He then walked forward towards us without even checking up on his men.

His armor was different compared to the others. It looked stronger and more opulent. He glanced at our group before he set his glance towards Kirito. "I am Lieutenant Colonel Kobatz of the Aincrad Liberation Squad." He pronounced with a commanding tone.

I had to stop myself from clicking my tongue. Kobatz. I know this guy. A skilled sword and shield player known for his arrogance and bull-headedness.

He was also one of Kibaou's top lapdogs.

The reason why his men were winded while he was fine was probably because he was making them do all the heavy lifting while he stayed far in the back.

Kirito stepped forward. "Kirito. Solo." He replied concisely.

Kobatz nodded. "Have you mapped the area ahead of here?"

Kirito nodded. "Yes. I've mapped the data all the way to the boss room."

"Then, I'd like to have the map data." He nonchalantly said, as if ordering Kirito to hand it over. Classic Army procedures.

The others were shocked at Kobatz's attitude. Klein angrily stepped forward. "Wha? You want it for free?! Do you know how hard it is to map an area?!" He shouted as he pointed at Kobatz.

Kobatz raised his hand and closed it into a fist. "We divide information and resources equally to all!"

My mind flashed back to when the Army gated off several lucrative areas, forcing small guilds and solo players to hunt in the more dangerous areas to get something - _anything._

My hands started to shake.

"To maintain order! And to fight to free players from this world as soon as possible!"

My mind flashed back to the end of the 25th Floor Boss fight, when Kibaou and his lackeys deserted the Clearers and didn't make a contribution until now.

I gritted my teeth.

"That's why you should cooperate with us!" He shouted as he pointed to Kirito.

My mind flashed back to Kibaou accusing Kirito of letting Diabel die.

And finally, my mind flashed by to Kibaou's first appearance as he berated the beta testers who were trying to help players like him. Beta testers like Kirito.

I've heard enough.

I spit to the side and snorted audibly. All eyes were turned to me. "Oh, did I interrupt you? I'm sorry, just had to spit out a bad taste in my mouth." I smiled as I said in a polite tone.

All eyes were turned to me. "And who might you be?" Kobatz accused.

"Oh, somebody not important enough for you to remember." I said as I walked forward, the smile disappearing from my face. "What's important is that you give proper payment when payment is due."

Kobatz scoffed. "Did you not hear what I just said?! I _said_ that -"

"All I heard was a pretentious speech from a self-centered, hypocritical _little man_." I growled, stopping in front of his face. "You talk about sharing your resources when you restricted access to several lucrative areas. You talk about maintaining order when you exploit the weaker players for money. And you about fighting to free players when you deserted the frontlines and the rest of us had to pick up the pieces." I paused for a bit before I backed away. "You can have the map data as long as you pay for it. Spare us your speeches."

Kobatz silently glared at me. I glared back as I held my ground. There are a lot of things that happen in SAO that I don't care enough to interfere. This wasn't one of them.

"...Fine, have it your way." He finally relented before turning towards Kirito. "Your map data for our Cor." They opened their respective trading windows and traded in silence. "I appreciate your cooperation." He said flatly. He glared at me one last time before he turned around and headed further in the dungeon.

"If you're thinking of fighting the boss, then don't bother." Kirito said to him.

Kobatz slightly turned his body. "...that's for me to decide." He replied dismissively.

Kirito's eyes widened as he took a step forward. "We checked the boss room earlier! It's not something that you can handle with so few people!" He frantically warned before he glanced at the other Army members. "And look! Your men are all exhausted!"

"My men aren't so weak as to give up from something so trivial!" He retorted angrily before he looked at his subordinates. "Get up, you bastards!" He roared. They slowly got up and followed Kobatz out of the safe zone and further into the dungeon.

"...Are they going to be alright?" Klein muttered worriedly as the Army players vanished further in.

"Considering what happened back in the 25th Floor, I doubt it." I replied.

"At any rate, I don't think that they'll fight the boss, but..." Asuna fretted.

"...considering what happened back in the 25th Floor…" I trailed off, letting the statement hang in the air. In normal circumstances, even a low-level player could see that trying to fight a Floor Boss while most of your squad is dead tired is an obviously bad idea.

But then again, the Army was full of bad ideas.

"What should we do?" Silica asked.

"Let's go keep an eye on them." Kirito declared. Everybody nodded at him. "...Who's the nice guy now…?" He muttered before looking at me.

I shrugged and nodded. Kobatz might be a pompous ass, but we need all the help we could get. You can't always choose who you work with.

Kirito led the way. The rest of us followed, but Asuna and Klein stayed behind for a bit. Klein silently said something to Asuna before he bowed. Asuna glanced at Kirito before she smiled confidently at Klein and they walked quickly to catch up to us. He probably asked her to take care of Kirito.

I sighed as I walked. "I sure made quite a scene, huh?" I said to nobody in particular.

They all nodded. "Considering you, yeah that was pretty surprising." Klein pointed out.

I sheepishly rubbed the back of my head. I noticed that Kirito and Silica weren't all that surprised. Yeah, it wasn't the first time that they saw something like that. "Hey, Riwet. Wanna hear something good?" Kirito suddenly said.

"Yeah?" I replied.

"I'll make sure to distribute the map data between all the other guilds." He then made a cheeky grin. "Free of charge, of course."

I grinned back. "Very nice." I said before I looked forward and sighed. "Let's hurry up and catch up to them before they do something stupid."

 *****  
Loading...Complete  
*****

We ran into a couple of monsters as we tried to catch up with the Army. By the time that we got pretty close to the Boss Room, half an hour had passed and there was no sign of the group.

"Only the boss room is left. Did they get stomped before they got here and teleported out to escape?" Klein said jokingly. Kirito and Asuna looked unsure.

Suddenly, a shrill voice pierced through the dungeon walls.

"AHHHH!"

That didn't sound like a monster. We looked at each other and then sprinted. Kirito, Asuna, and Silica had more AGI than the rest of us, so a gap was quickly forming. However, I wasn't being left behind as much as the Fuurinkazan were since they were matching their speeds so that nobody would get left behind on off chance that monsters would respawn and block them.

Eventually, the massive double doors of the Boss Room came into view.

It was open. And I could hear frantic screaming and metal clashing from inside the room.

 _Fucking_ dammit.

The three of them stopped just before the room. I rushed and came over, stopping next to them.

My face froze and my blood ran cold as I stared at the massacre that was happening in front of us.

Bluish-white flames littered the floor. The Army members were in disarray, frantically flailing their weapons to save their lives. Some couldn't even stand, panting heavily as they knelt.

A towering figure stood in the center of the room. Two curved horns towered on either side of its head, which was that of a goat's even when its body was humanoid. Its upper body only had shoulder pads equipped, exposing its incredibly muscular torso as it swung its massive sword around. Its lower body was bestial - all covered in long blue hair and ending with a pair of hooves. Its long tail resembled a snake.

The Gleameyes. The 74th Floor Boss.

The massive beast raised its sword and cleaved through a player. He survived with barely any HP left.

"What are you doing?! Hurry up and Teleport out!" Kirito screamed.

"W-we can't! The crystals aren't working!"

An Anti-Crystal Boss Room. We hadn't had one of these ever since the 25th Floor.

Meaning that we couldn't rely on even our Recovery Crystals.

"We, the Aincrad Liberation Squad, will never suffer the shame of retreat!" Kobatz roared. "Fight! We must fight on!"

"You idiot!" Kirito shouted.

Yeah, _really_ turning into a fucking rerun of the 25th Floor right about now.

The Fuurinkazan arrived. "Hey, what's going on?!" Klein asked before his eyes widened as he saw the carnage.

"Crystals don't work in there. If we rush in, we might be able to open up a path for them…" Kirito explained.

"But it's almost suicidal for us to rush in. Even more so when we can't use our crystals." I pointed out.

"Isn't there anything that we can do?" Klein lamented.

"Men! Attack!" Kobatz roared as the Army recklessly rushed the boss.

"Stop! Please!" Silica pleaded.

Gleameyes reared its head back before it opened its mouth, spewing a jet of pink flame. The Army stopped in their tracks as they weathered the intense breath attack. The monster took its chance amidst the confusion, its massive sword glowing as it stabbed the area and created a violent explosion.

The group was scattered under the attack. All of them were either forced on their knees or thrown on their back.

Gleameyes then exhaled sharply as it swung its sword effortlessly.

Somebody was thrown in the air, his body marred with a long red mark.

He landed right in front us.

It was Kobatz.

"Hey! Are you alright?! Hang in there!" Kirito ran towards Kobatz.

I hurriedly followed Kirito and tried to use a potion on the downed army leader.

I was too late.

His HP was fully depleted.

His helmet broke, revealing a face frozen in shock and disbelief. Tears poured from his eyes. "This can't be happening…" He muttered as he exploded into particles.

What a meaningless, senseless death.

"No…" Asuna gasped.

"It can't be…" Silica whimpered, taking a step back as she covered her mouth with her hand.

"AAAAHHHH!" A shrill shout emanated inside the Boss Room. A player was laying on the ground, whimpering in fear as Gleameyes stood over him. The boss exhaled sharply before it heaved its weapon behind its back, preparing for a brutal overhead slice.

"No...no more…" I heard Asuna mutter. I glanced at Asuna. Her shaking hand was centimeters away from drawing out her rapier.

Gleameyes roared and started to swing.

"AAAAHHHH!" The player screamed in fear.

"No...NOOOOOO!" Asuna roared as she drew her weapon out and sprinted into the Boss Room.

"ASUNA!" "Asuna-san!" Kirito and Silica drew their weapons and followed Asuna.

"Tch!" I clicked my tongue as I drew out my glaive and followed them.

"Oh, whatever!" Klein shouted as he and his party also rushed in.

Asuna leaped high and unleashed a Weapon Skill on the boss' back, but its HP only went down by a little. While Gleameyes stopped attacking the downed player, it turned around and swung at her instead. She avoided the sword, but the monster followed up with a left-handed punch that sent her flying back towards us.

"Asuna-san!" Silica screamed as she spread her arms. "Gh!" She fell on her back as she caught Asuna. "Pina, heal!" Pina roared as she blew a stream of healing air on Asuna, restoring her HP by a bit.

The boss roared and raised its sword, aiming to stab the two. Kirito and I stepped in to deflect the blow, our blades sparking as it made contact with the massive sword. The attack missed the two by a good margin.

"Fall back!" Kirito shouted. Asuna and Silica nodded and they jumped back.

The Fuurinkazan ran towards the injured Army players and was hauling them to safety. The monster turned its back towards us and tried to attack the group with a breath attack, but Kirito and I unleashed our Weapon Skills in its exposed back, interrupting the attack as Gleameyes screeched in pain.

It turned its attention back to us and engaged us. Kirito and I tried our best to weather its attacks while also looking for openings to attack. Kirito was faring better than me because he was fast enough to dodge its attacks. I had to be on point with my blocking because the bastard hit hard and quick.

A few minutes passed, and I think I got a hold of what we were fighting against. Gleameyes was a very hard-hitting boss with quick and devastating attacks. Its speed was on par with Kirito even though it was so damn big.

Fortunately, other than having a fairly robust HP bar, it didn't seem to have much in terms of defense.

Still, holding off a Boss monster with only two people is...quite difficult to say the least. And the cracks were beginning to show as we fended off one hefty blow after another.

"Kirito-kun! Riwet-kun!" Asuna shouted from behind us.

We both looked back for a split second. They were done moving the Army members to the far side of the boss room.

"Everyone! Hold him off for at least ten seconds!" Kirito shouted as he jumped back and opened his Player Menu. I looked at his eyes and saw a determined glimmer in them.

"Roger that!" Klein replied.

Asuna, Klein, and even Silica ran up to my side. I glanced worriedly at Silica. While she looked shaken, she replied with a determined nod.

There was no time to argue even if I wanted to.

Ten seconds. Let's do this.

 **Cue Music: Carpenter Brut: Turbo Killer  
*****

"Uooooh!" Klein roared as he rushed Gleameyes. Even though his Katana was designed for damage and not for defense, he did an excellent job fending it off before he was knocked away after blocking a hefty swing.

"Seiya!" "...!" Sillica and I were up next. We simultaneously activated Draconic Assault and Pale Derision, aiming at one of its legs. We almost brought it to its knees. Pina breathed a stream of bubbles, stunning Gleameyes for a second as we jumped back and away.

"Haaa!" Asuna was up. She made a beeline for Gleameyes, and the monster retaliated with an overhead strike.

"I'm done!" We heard Kirito say as he started running towards the Boss.

Asuna spun to the side and dodged the attack. Her rapier glowed a brilliant purple and she slammed it on the Boss' sword before she jumped away. Gleameyes stepped back under the impact, but it didn't lose its grip on its weapon.

"SWITCH!" Kirito shouted as he jumped into Gleameyes as the monster swung its sword. Kirito deflected the attack to the side.

The space in his back started to glow, and Kirito reached behind him and held the light as it formed into a handle. He drew it out and struck Gleameyes with it.

Our eyes widened.

In his left hand, Kirito was holding _another_ Elucidator.

"Raaagh!" Kirito roared as he slashed the Boss Monster's midsection with his left sword while his right sword sliced vertically. Gleameyes retaliated with a hefty overhead swing, but Kirito crossed his swords in front of him and pushed the attack back.

Just like how SAO allowed me to equip my main weapon on my left hand, it also allowed players to equip weapons on both their hands. However, we realized that it wasn't practical. It didn't offer many advantages considering the amount of time and effort you need to practice using a weapon with your off hand, and that goes double for when you're under pressure. Also, barring speed-focused builds, a sensible complement to your one-handed weapon is a shield.

The only reason why I don't usually equip shields is that I made sure that my right arm was adequately armored enough to block and or deflect attacks, and I periodically two-hand my glaive to block the hard-hitting attacks. Also, I've practiced my off hand enough that I could consistently do simple unarmed strikes, parries, and Martial Arts Skill with it even in stressful situations. However, I still couldn't wrap my head around effectively using my Knife or using complicated attacks on my off hand, and I felt that my efforts could be directed to something else.

But as I saw Kirito's dual wielding, I realized that he was using one sword perfectly in tandem with the other. A true dual wielding stance. His precision and control with his left hand were on par with mine, and that was when he was also busy swinging a sword in his right hand as well.

Amazing...

Wait, why the hell am I standing around for?

I rushed forward and assisted him. He was making mincemeat out of the boss' HP, but the boss was also tearing him apart.

I drank a health potion before I joined Kirito's side. I tried my best to stay out of his way, dealing and taking potshots and diverting the boss' attention while Kirito dealt the big damage.

"RAAHH!" Kirito let out a wild roar as he danced with his two swords. Deep red gashes marred Gleameyes' exposed chest.

Gleameyes roared and held its sword high. I saw that diagonal overhead attack a couple times, and it created an Area of Effect blast whenever it hit the ground.

I noticed that Kirito took a stance as his swords glowed. He was prepping for a damaging Weapon Skill.

I'm gonna have to take this one.

I held Caerulus with both hands, twisting my right arm so that my elbow was pressed into the flat of my blade. I gritted my teeth as I prepared to block.

Gleameyes brought its sword down, and the whole world fucking shook.

Not sure if it was because of SAO's pain reduction or the fact that I was being flooded with adrenaline, but I only felt a very slight discomfort when my left arm crumpled violently into itself and I was swatted away like a fly. This time, the world was spinning. I skipped along the ground and finally came to rest on my back a short distance away. My HP went from almost full to deep in the yellow.

"Riwet!" Silica rushed towards me as I sat up and drank another potion. "Hang in there!" She frantically said. Pina flew close and breathed a gust of curative air on me. "Are you alright?!"

"Y-yeah..I…" I picked myself from the ground and slowly stood up but dark spots started appearing on the edges of my vision. "Gh!" My shaking knees gave out, and Silica had to prop me up to keep me from falling. But even then, I didn't dare to take my eyes off the battle.

My efforts paid off. Even though there was still a small crater from where I blocked the attack, it didn't reach Kirito.

I've done what I can. It's all on Kirito now.

"Starburst...Stream…!" Kirito whispered as he let out a nonstop barrage of slashes and stabs. "HAAAAAA!" He roared as Gleameyes screeched and squirmed, its HP depleting at a ridiculous rate. It drew back its fist and punched Kirito in the face, but Kirito just powered through it and continued on with his attack. His movements were almost too fast to follow, and his Weapon Skill passed beyond single digits in hits.

With a final act of desperation, Gleameyes roared and grabbed one of Kirito's swords with its left hand as it brought its sword to bear.

"RAAAAAAGH!" With a final shout, Kirito let out a lunging stab with his other sword, tearing into the monster's chest.

Both of them stayed still for a second, then Gleameyes exploded into particles and the 'Congratulations' sign appeared.

 _ *****  
Music End**_

Kirito slowly fell on his back like a pile of bricks. "Kirito-kun!" Asuna shouted as she rushed over to him.

"Phew…" As for me, I felt an overwhelming sense of relief. "Let's sit down." I said to Silica as I tapped her shoulder. She nodded and slowly laid me down. "Thanks...phew…." I let out. The dark spots were starting to disappear and my vision was clearing up.

"Haahhh…" Silica also let out a relieved sigh.

"So, how was your first Boss battle?" I asked her.

"It was crazy. It felt so desperate and hopeless…" She muttered.

"I can assure you that Boss Fights aren't usually this sloppy." I explained. Damn Army bastards.

We silently stared at the brewing commotion as the group started flocking towards Kirito and started asking him how he was able to do what he just did. He explained that it was a Unique Skill called Dual Blades. He further explained that the Skill just appeared in his Skills tab, and that he wouldn't have hid it if he knew the circumstances to unlock it. Considering how rabid the players could get, I'd say that he made a smart move.

After that, Klein and the others said their goodbyes as they went further and opened the 75th Floor. All that was left in the boss room was me being supported by Silica, and further away, a distressed Asuna clinging to a dazed Kirito.

I turned towards Silica. "So, what's next for you?" I asked her. "Nobody's gonna blame you for taking a break."

She sighed. "I don't wanna think about that stuff right now. I just wanna lay down and rest."

"True that…" I muttered as I looked at the clock. I couldn't help but smile as I thought of something good. "Hey, I got a better idea."

She turned towards me. "What's on your mind?"

"Weathercock Pavilion. Eat all you can. Everything's on me. A celebration for us surviving the Boss Room. You in?" I offered her.

Silica smiled and nodded.

I smiled back before I felt the urge to sneeze. I turned away and covered my mouth with my remaining hand. "Ha-CHOO!"

 *****  
Chapter End  
*****

A/N: And another chapter done. I'm happy with how it turned out.

My only regret was not developing more of Kobatz's character before this chapter. He comes off as a character whose only characteristic is that he's an incompetent leader. Him crying when he died didn't make him any more developed.

Guest Review: I've honestly been slacking off on completing SAO: Hollow Fragment, so not yet. It's mostly my fault. I stopped clearing Aincrad when I was on the 86th Floor so I can clear Philia's storyline in the Hollow Area. After clearing her storyline I decided to grind a bit for items. 'A bit' turned into 'a lot' and I got a mild burnout so I didn't play for a while. I got back into it, so I'll finish the game soon enough. Fortunately, I leveled Kirito up a lot and got so much good loot that clearing it is gonna be easy.

I'll look into the crossover game when I have the time.

Interestingly enough, I'm very much interested in expanding Yui's character, but not right now. I have ideas, but I don't wanna give further details since it's set, at the very least, after the Fairy Dance Arc.

And with that, I'd ask you, me, and every single one of my readers to not worry about the previous paragraph since it's so far away. Far too early to get hyped.

That's all for now. Thank you very much, and have a good one.


	25. CH 23 - 15-Minute Break

Chapter 23 - 15-Minute Break

October 20, 2024

"Whew…" I sighed as I finally entered my house. I turned towards Silica. "You should get some rest. I'll be okay on my own."

She shook her head. "You'll just slip by and hunt the moment I leave, won't you?"

"Uhh…no?" Was my completely smooth reply.

"..."

"...well...come in, I guess…" I relented as I held the door open for her.

We had just gotten to my house after we watched Kirito's duel with Heathcliff. I was starting to feel a little sick ever since the 74th Floor Boss Fight the day before. Yeah, it was about that time of the year that I usually get sick. My body in the real life must be coming down with a cold or something.

However, I soon as I mentioned that to Silica, she vehemently insisted on taking care of me and telling me to rest.

It honestly isn't as bad as Silica was thinking it was. Aside from a sore throat and some sniffles, I felt completely fine.

"You're pushing yourself too hard, Riwet. I'll go make some soup. If you don't want to sleep, then you should go sit on the sofa." She said sternly.

"Yes, mooo-" I started to reply with a mocking tone.

"What was that?"

"Ma'am, Silica-san. Yes, ma'am." I hurriedly rapped.

She looked at me sternly before it quickly turned into a warm smile. "Good."

I slowly made my way to my sofa and changed into something more comfortable before I sat.

Eventually, Silica came to the living room with two bowls of chicken soup. "I don't understand why you're so adamant about just being left alone. I'm your girlfriend. Let me help you." She said as she handed me one of the bowls.

"I keep assuming that this is the real world, so I don't want to infect you with what I have right now. That...and I just get really grumpy when I'm not completely healthy. Sorry." I sheepishly explained.

"Apology accepted. Let's eat before this gets cold."

I nodded and took a sip. Even though my sense of taste was slightly off because of my cold, the soup was delicious. The warm liquid slowly cleared my sinuses and made me feel refreshed.

Just as we finished eating our meal, I heard knocking coming from my front door.

"I got this." I said to Silica as I stood up and approached the door. I placed my eyes on the peephole and saw a familiar face. I opened the door. "Good afternoon, Wilhelm-san." I greeted.

"Good afternoon, Riwet." Wilhelm greeted me back.

"What can I do for you?"

"...a favor." He slowly said. I noticed that his usual cheerful behavior wasn't quite there. Instead, he was uncharacteristically restrained.

"Come in and we'll talk about it." I said as I led him to the sofa and sat next to Silica.

Wilhelm silently followed. After a brief exchange of greetings between Wilhelm and Silica, he sat on the chair facing the sofa.

Silica felt the unusual atmosphere. "...should I leave you two alone?" She suggested.

Wilhelm shook his head. "If you promise to not divulge what I'm about to say, then you're welcome to stay. You deserve to hear what the AIncrad Liberation Squad was doing two days ago." He explained.

I looked at Silica and we nodded at each other before we turned back to Wilhelm. "By all means, Wilhelm-san." I urged.

"Alright…" He took a minute to explain to Silica who Kibaou and Thinker was. "For the most part, the Army was getting away with gating non-Army players out of good hunting areas and extorting low-levels for cash. Those could be blamed at Kibaou, but at that time, nobody was able to do anything because of his wide-reaching influence. However, he slowly started losing supporters since he showed little to no interest in actually clearing the game. Even some people in his circle started despising him because they assumed that he was doing those morally dubious acts so that they would be able to clear the game as soon as possible."

"In response to that, Kibaou gathered the highest-leveled players in the guild and convinced them to fight on the front lines, while also planting a loyalist to lead the group and take the credit."

"Kobatz-san…" Silica muttered.

"Exactly." Wilhelm nodded. "After that failure, Kibaou's reputation had been all but shattered. The handful of players who still support him are obviously in it for the money and are too involved with Kibaou to distance themselves from this debacle. All of a sudden, Thinker became the de facto leader of the Army. I've spoken to my contact inside the guild, and they said that most of the guild was considering on dismissing him from the guild." He paused.

"However…" I added.

"However...Thinker is insistent on negotiating with Kibaou. I like Thinker, but I feel that he doesn't know when to stop negotiating. Everybody knows it...even Kibaou."

I could see where this is going, but I should ask just in case. "So what exactly do you want me to do?"

Wilhelm took a deep breath before he looked at me. "Let me start off by saying that this is a matter of _if_ , and not _when_. While Kibaou may come off as delusional, I have hopes that he would do the sensible thing and just peacefully relinquish all his power towards Thinker. However, if Kibaou does something utterly idiotic, will you help us?"

"...what do you think?" I said as I turned to Silica.

She shook her head. "I don't know. I've had my share of disputes between parties, but nothing as big as this." She paused. "...but you've already decided, right?"

"And that's the thing. Riwet doesn't _have_ to do this. " Wilhelm pointed out. "I'm asking him for a favor, and he's got a knack for just shrugging and saying yes to people without giving it much thought - especially towards people that he had known for a long time."

Silica giggled. "Yeah, he really does…" She turned to look at me. "But still, you're going to do this, right?"

"...yeah…" I nodded.

"Then you should do it. Just like how you encouraged me to become stronger, I'll let you do what you want to do. I know that it might be dangerous, but I believe in you."

"Silica…" I muttered as I smiled at her.

"Well, aren't you two just the sweetest?" Wilhelm teased. Our faces turned red and we looked away from each other. Wilhelm made a hearty laugh. "I'll say it and repeat it as many times as possible - this is just the absolute worst case scenario. Don't worry too much about it. Even someone like Kibaou isn't stupid enough to further escalate things." He assured us as he took out a basket filled with bread. "Here. I baked these scones myself. Eat 'em whenever you feel like it." His voice was tinged slightly with pride. He was back to his normal self.

"Ooh, nice." I smiled as I took his gift. "Here." I passed one to Silica before I took one for myself. "It's delicious." I replied. "Regardless, you can count on me." I smiled. All things aside, I'd really appreciate the chance to break that orange-haired bastard's jaw.

"Thank you." Wilhelm bowed. "...truth be told, even after all the bad things that the Army did, I've always regretted leaving." He admitted. "A lot of us who left did so because we wanted to show that not every person involved in the Army is incompetent or malicious. Some stayed behind to try and change the guild from the inside. Unfortunately, we who left did too good of a job and the ones who stayed behind had to work slowly. Now, everybody assumes that all the sensible players have left the Army." He chuckled mirthlessly.

"Hmm…" I hummed before I took a slow breath. "You don't have to answer this if you don't want to, but...if you had to choose...KoB or the Army?" I asked.

"Oh, the Army, definitely." He replied without hesitating. "Yeah, KoB might be leading the clearing effort, but they're good enough that they don't need me. In quite the contrast, the Army is a hot mess, and I feel that I can help change that for the better."

"I see...well, I hope you and your contacts the best of luck."

"Thanks. We'll need lots of it." Wilhelm said as he stood up and stretched his limbs. "Well, I should get going. Just because I care a lot about the Army doesn't mean that I should neglect my duties in KoB."

"Alright. Stay safe out there."

Wilhelm gave a thumbs up as he left.

I sighed and sank back to the chair, thinking of what to do next. Well...I guess I could manage my inventory.

I opened my Player Menu and started sorting out my items. I used to have a detrimental hoarding addiction in RPGs. It got so bad that I refused to use a rare item when fighting the definite final boss. Thankfully, I shook that habit off very quickly during my time in SAO.

Let's see...hmm...I can sell this one to Agil...these ones to Argo...it also helps that Cor was infinitely more convenient to store. That, and I like big bucks. Can't lie about that.

"Kyururu!" Pina flew away from Silica and landed on the table. She did a little dance, trying to get my attention. I held back my smile and made it seem like I was ignoring her. "Kyururu!" She roared even louder.

I chuckled and took out a peanut. I held outward and showed it to Pina before lobbing it in the air. Tracking it perfectly, she flew high in the air and caught it with one quick and elegant motion. I applauded her with a brief bout of golf claps. Wonderful reflexes and accuracy, as always.

Silica sat next to me, laying down a tray carrying two cups and a teapot. She started eating the scone Wilhelm gave us.

Well, if they really wanted to stay, then I appreciate the company.

"So, how're the Cats been treating you?" I asked Silica.

"It's going really great." She replied. "Everybody goes along so well. They're more tightly-knit than most other groups I've ever joined."

"That's good." I nodded. Silica officially joined the Moonlit Black Cats yesterday. She worked well with them, and that guild's consistent success on the front lines and affiliation with KoB made them a good candidate.

We heard knocking coming from my front door again.

"Hey…" Kirito greeted us. "Can I come in?"

"Sure."

"Good afternoon, Kirito-san." Silica said as I led Kirito to my living room. Kirito greeted back, and we sat on the sofa.

"So what can I do for you?" I asked.

"I came to check up on you...also, I need a place to hide for a bit. Is that okay?"

"Sure, I guess. Here, have a scone." I said as I gave him one.

"Thanks."

"..."

"..."

"So...I guess you're KoB now."

"Yyyyup."

"Excited?"

"Nnnnope."

"Wonder what Asuna's gonna say about that."

"Shut up."

"..."

"..."

"...pff." I chuckled.

"...heh." Kirito also had a little laugh at that.

"I have a spare room. You can use that as a hideout for now."

"Thanks, but I'm good."

"Alright, if you say so."

"So, what did you think about the duel?"

"It was really amazing. The two of you were duking it out with your Unique Skills. It was the first time I've ever seen Heathcliff-san be pushed that far." I remarked.

"But in the end, I couldn't break through his defenses…"

"Yeah, that last part was crazy. I think you forced him to pull out a hidden trick or Skill to drastically increase his AGI for a split second. I saw the look he gave you, and he did _not_ look happy." I commented.

"Yeah…"

"...something on your mind?"

"Nah...It's nothing…" Kirito mused.

We heard another string of knocks from the front door. Lots of visitors today.

I walked towards the door and peeked. I saw who was waiting on the other side and immediately opened the door. I silently nodded at her as I pointed towards Kirito.

"Kirito-kun! I knew I'd find you here!" Asuna exclaimed as she quickly went inside.

"Geh! Asuna..." Kirito grunted.

"Huh~...Kirito-kun…so the first thing in your mind when you see me is 'Geh'. I see, I see~" Asuna spoke in a deceptively demure voice. Woulda fooled me if not for the bone-chilling look aura that she was exuding.

"Good afternoon, Asuna-san!" Silica greeted.

"Mm! Good afternoon, Silica-chan!" Asuna greeted back as she walked towards Kirito. "Scoot." Kirito silently did what he was told to do as Asuna sat next to him. "I hope my subordinate isn't causing you too much trouble." She grinned from ear to ear. Kirito groaned and facepalmed.

"Oh, you need not worry. Your humble subordinate was in the middle of expressing his interest in working with you." I replied.

"I see...ehehe~" Asuna sheepishly scratched her cheek. Kirito groaned even louder.

*stare*

"Ah! U-um… *ahem*...w-well, I heard from Silica-chan that you weren't feeling well. So I brought you this." She cleared her throat and traded me a bowl of soup.

"Thanks. I just finished eating, so I'll just take a sip." I said as I materialized a spoonful of the soup. I blew on it for a bit before I slurped it into my mouth. "It's really good. Thank you."

"You're welcome." She nodded. "You are to not perform any hunting activities until you are fully recovered. Understood?"

"You got it, nee-cha-" I caught myself and paused for a moment. "...sorry. Understood, Asuna-san." I clarified.

Asuna tilted her head quizzically before she gave me a slight smile. "No need for apologies." She then turned towards Kirito. "As for you…"

"Gimme a break…." Kirito sighed.

"No can do, mister! I still need your measurements to make your KoB uniform!" Asuna said excitedly as she started to drag Kirito by the arm.

"Alright. Have fun, you two." I waved at them as they left.

I sank back into my sofa and sighed. Man, I'm feeling kinda sluggish. I dunno why I unconsciously almost called Asuna 'nee-chan". I mean, there's some slight resemblance, but…

"You really should rest up, Riwet. You're not looking so good." Silica fretted.

"Yeah...I guess I should...I'll take a ten-minute nap. Any more than that and my sleep schedule's ruined." I announced as I laid on the sofa and draped a blanket over myself. I also saw Pina curl up and sleep on the coffee table.

I heard rustling nearby. I opened my eyes and saw Silica's face inches away from mine. I felt my face heat up. "W-what is it?"

"I-I...I should ch-check your temperature, you know…" She stuttered.

"...okay, I guess…"

I expected that either one of us would active Scanning. Aside from showing strengths and weaknesses, Scanning could also show more specific stats like body temperature.

What I didn't expect was Silica softly bumping her forehead into mine.

"H-hey, uh...Silica...san?" I slowly whispered.

"Shh...stay still. I need to measure it." She whispered back. "Fufu...your temperature is quite hot. Are you okay?" She asked after a few moments.

"I-I'm fine." When all I could do is stay still and smell your scent every time I take a breath, my face can't help but burn.

"Hmmm~ I wonder about that~"

"...you're doing this on purpose, aren't you?" I accused.

"...sorry." Silica pulled away and made an apologetic face. "Your temperature is fine. I'll leave you be for now." She started to pull away from me.

Oh, you're not getting away that easily. "I mean, if you wanna try something, I probably won't complain when I'm asleep, you know." I implied with a straight face.

"E-e-e-eehh?!" Her face turned red. "Kya!" She yelped and lost her footing, her body falling backward. Ah, crap.

"Hey, watch ou-gh!" I grunted as I tried to catch her.

Silica ended up on top of me.

"Oww~...Ah! I-I'm sorry! Are you okay?!" Silica fretted. One second she was teasing me, the next second she was worriedly peering at my face.

I smiled and brought my hand to her head. "I'm alright. Don't worry." I said as I started patting her head.

"Thank goodness…" She let out a relieved sigh.

Goddamit. How could you get angry at that?

Our eyes met. Her face flushed pink, and I could also feel my face heating up. She then closed her eyes and stuck her chin out.

"Don't blame me if you catch my cold…" I muttered softly before I kissed her.

We stayed like that for a bit before we broke away. "Ehehe~" Silica giggled as she nuzzled her head on my chest.

I couldn't help but smile at her as I patted her head.

 *****  
Chapter End  
*****

 **A/N:** Another chapter done. Yeah, it's a shorter chapter this time. I had to take out some of the ideas I had for this chapter and implement it in the next chapter to make it flow better. Regardless, it's ~3000 words, so it's not that terribly short.

So I finally finished SAO: Hollow Fragment. Took me about 100 hours. Except for some minor but constant gripes, I had fun with it for the most part.

Alright. At this point, I'm seriously considering adding Philia and Strea to AWE. And that means that I'm gonna be spoiling most, if not all, of SAO:HF. It's not set in stone yet, and if I do it, I'll make sure to tell you.

That's all for now. Thank you very much, and have a good one.


	26. CH 24 - Obligatory Hot Spring Ep

Chapter 24 - Obligatory Hot Spring Episode

 _October 24, 2024_

"Ahhh…" Kirito, Sefton, and I sighed as we submerged their bodies in the steaming water.

Kirito turned to look at me. "Thanks for inviting us, Riwet. Asuna and I love hot springs."

"Fuu...don't mention it." I'm not particularly fond of hot springs, but they're nice once in awhile. "Think of it as my wedding gift for you two."

"If that's the case, then why am I here?" Sefton chimed in.

I smirked. "It's my gift in advance. You're gonna propose sooner or later right?"

"Hey, hey." Sefton retorted. "You're one to talk, you know."

"First off, you're welcome, and second, shut up, okay?"

"Yeah, whatever you say, dude."

I scowled at him before we both chuckled. We were too comfortable to keep on arguing.

We were at an onsen on the 40th Floor. The hot spring was outdoors, and it was fairly large. A wall made of bamboo standing atop a mound of rocks separated the men's side from the women's side. As for the rooms, there were a total of three rooms big enough to accommodate three people. The resort as a whole was small, but the rent dented my wallet. But the spacious rooms and the great food coupled with the hot spring made it all worth it.

Yesterday, Kirito and Asuna were caught in an unfortunate incident resulting in a KoB officer's death at the hands of Asuna's former bodyguard - a bag of meat named Kuradeel. Said bag of meat was secretly an LC member harboring an intense obsession towards Asuna. Good thing that he died. At the very least, they got out unscathed and were allowed to have a vacation.

I shook my head to clear my mind. The reason why I booked this place to begin with was to get out of thinking about these things. We're celebrating both my birthday and Kirito and Asuna's wedding. There's no place for worrying.

Though, I owe Klein a drink for this. He went to the wedding but elected to stay working at the front lines. I'll be sure to invite him in the future.

We heard a door opening from the other side of the wall. "Wah! It's huge!" I heard Silica's voice.

"I know, right?" That was Asuna.

"Well, what're we waiting for? Let's dive in!" That was Lizbeth.

"Wait, they're all there? What should we do?" Sefton asked in a hushed voice.

"Why are you asking me? I don't know what to do!" Kirito replied.

"Are...are you guys serious?" I sighed and called out to the girls on the other side of the springs. "Hey! Full disclosure, we're all here as well. No peeping, alright?!"

"Hey! That's our line, Riwet!" Lizbeth retorted.

I turned towards the other boys. "There. Problem solved. Unless you two were planning to peek, in which case I'd have to gouge your eyes out, simply telling them that you're on the other side is your best bet."

"I didn't think about that. Nice work." Kirito admitted.

"Hey, Sefton! How's the water on your side?" Lizbeth called out.

"It's perfect! What about yours?" Sefton replied.

"Same!"

"Ah! Pina!" Silica gasped.

"Kyururu!" Pina exclaimed. I looked up and saw that she flew over to our side of the wall.

"Whoa, hey!" I got caught off guard since she landed right in front of my head. "What are you doing?"

"Ah, Riwet! Can you try and clean Pina for me?" Silica shouted.

"I'll try!...Okay, Pina, can you, you know…" I scooped up a handful of water and brought it upwards.

"Kyururu! Kyururu!" Pina jumped up and landed in front of me!

"Gah! Dammit!" I sputtered when I got hit with a faceful of water.

"Haha!" Sefton and Kirito laughed at me.

"Oh, yeah? Eat this!" I flung my arm towards the two, splashing them with the warm water.

"Oh, it's on now! Sefton, back me up!" Kirito roared.

"Right behind you!"

"Hey, what are you three doing out there!?" Asuna said.

"Not now, Asuna! I'm about to have the most important battle of my li-Guh!" Kirito went down as I nailed him with a Critical Hit.

"Get wrecked, nerd!"

"KIRITOOOO! RIWET, YOU BASTARD!"

"Hahahaha! Pina! Unleash your fury on this unruly heathen!"

"Kyrururu!"

"No! Stay back, you foul beast! Mmfff!" Pina landed in front of his face, robbing him of his sight.

"Take this! Demon Water Blast!" I let loose my finishing move, obliterating him in one fell swoop.

"Raaagh! I...have failed…!"

"Muhahaha! I have triumphed!"

"...what a bunch of idiots…" I could hear Lizbeth mutter.

"Yeah…" Asuna sighed.

"It's like they're kids…" Silica sighed with her.

The best part about all of that was that I could totally picture Silica, Asuna and Lizbeth getting second-hand embarrassment just looking at us.

And just like that, all my worries were gone.

This is gonna be a good one.

 ** _***  
Loading...Complete_**

I kept my eyes closed, steadying my breath. I was standing in a spacious clearing outside the building but inside the resort's fencing.

My body felt light. Too light. I didn't equip my usual loadout - just Caerulus and a bathrobe. I imagined a monster in front of me. Humanoid in shape, and about as close as my size. I imagined it slowly creeping towards me.

As soon as it entered my range, I opened my eyes and drew out my glaive, swinging it at the imaginary monster. I darted and twisted my body, evading the quick strikes from my opponent. While this battle only existed inside my mind, It was not an excuse to half-ass it.

After a few minutes, I finally swung my glaive to deal the finishing blow. The monster disappeared, and I opened my eyes. I sighed and pondered as I sheathed my glaive.

I had to be honest...it felt kind of off. Nothing major, but it was notable. I felt like my movements were too aggressive. I didn't expect how much I'm raring for combat after four days of being under the weather. Still, I should reign this in sooner than later.

I felt a presence behind me, and I turned around to face it. "Oh, hey." I greeted Asuna. "How long have you been standing there?"

"Not for very long." She replied. "Are you training right now?"

"Yeah. It's the first time I've felt good these past few days, so I figured I'd start getting back into it." And considering that I hadn't noticed her sooner, I really need to shake the rust off. "So, you need anything?"

She shook her head. "Nothing in particular...I just want to have a chat…"

"Sure…" I stored my weapons back in my inventory and sat in the space near her.

"You're out here all alone. Did you at least tell Silica-chan what you were doing?" Asuna asked.

"I feel a bit bad about it, but Silica's used to me slipping away to be alone. I don't know. I can be surrounded by my closest friends, but I really need some alone time."

"I see...still doesn't answer that question, though." Damn. Busted. "Does Silica-chan know that you're here straining yourself?"

"Weeeeellllll…."

"You're gonna get in trouble~"

"Oh, come on. I feel fine enough to celebrate my birthday, so I'm fine enough to train!"

"If you say so, Riwet-kun." She teased. "Well, since it's your birthday, I won't tell on you, so don't worry."

"Thanks, Asuna."

"You're welcome...say..."

"Yeah?"

"I noticed that you almost called me 'nee-chan' a few days back."

"...yup. Sorry."

"Don't apologize. Honestly, it makes me...pretty happy."

"Why?"

"You're one of the first players I interacted with. Even after all our struggles and disagreements, it's nice that you can refer to me as 'nee-chan'."

"Well, it's _because_ of our struggles and disagreements that we've become good friends. You and Kirito are basically family now."

She nodded and smiled. "So, what's your sister like?...if you don't mind me asking."

"I don't mind...hmm...she's lively and outgoing. Most of the time, she's childish, but she could be quite stern, too. She likes to cuddle me and annoy me, but she gets mad easily when I try to tease her back. She's basically a complete opposite of me in terms of personality." I paused, chuckling as I recalled a few of the funny moments I had with her. "...I think that the only similar thing about you two is that, in spite of your personalities and quirks, I can rely on you when it matters."

"I didn't realize that you thought of me that way." She chuckled mirthlessly. "But you're wrong. You shouldn't rely on me...not after I failed Kirito-kun. I should have been the one to finish off Kuradeel. Instead, I let my guard down and Kirito-kun had to protect me."

I shook my head. "The way I see it, it's not your fault. The fault lies with Kuradeel who didn't know when to quit, and that damn Kayaba Akihiko who built this death game in the first place. Besides, Kirito wouldn't have wanted you to experience the stress of taking a life."

"And that makes it okay?" She snapped. "What makes you think that _I_ wanted Kirito-kun to experience that?"

I raised my hand in a placating manner. "It doesn't make it okay, and I'm sorry if I have offended you. I'm just saying that I would rather do the dirty work myself if it meant that Silica doesn't have to." I sighed. "But if you still see it as a mistake, then you know what to do next time. I'm sorry that I can't offer more helpful advice."

She shook her head. "No. Thank you for sharing your thoughts, and I'm sorry for my outburst. It's just so frustrating…"

I looked up at the night sky. "While I can't offer you solid advice, or completely relate to what you're feeling right now, I'm right here. Silica, Lizbeth, Kirito...a lot of people are here for you, too. You don't have to go at it alone."

She flashed a warm smile towards me. "Thank you, Riwet-kun." Then, her smile turned into a teasing smirk. "You know, that's funny coming from you, "I'll do the dirty work myself." -san."

"Right back atcha, you...big, stupid, doo doo head." I scoffed and stuck my tongue out.

"...pff...hehe…" Asuna started giggling. I chuckled along with her for a bit.

And with that, we spent a few minutes in silence. I bent my arm and grasped the pendant that was hanging on my neck beneath my clothes. It was Silica's birthday present to me. The design was identical to the one I gave her on her birthday, except for the pendant's color. Instead of the dark blue color that was made from the same ore as Caerulus, it was a vibrant light blue, reminiscent of Pina's color.

Finally, she grunted and stood up. "We've been here for quite a bit. Let's go back and meet up with the others."

I nodded and stood up. "Lead the way, nee-chan."

 ** _***  
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***_**

"King's game!" Lizbeth declared, taking out a tissue box-sized box with a hole and a couple of sticks.

King's game - A staple in the multitudes of anime and manga that I know. People would draw one stick - about the side of a chopstick - and that stick would either be numbered or marked red on the top. The person who got the red marked straw is declared the 'King', and can order the other players to do what they want. However, the King can't order the players by name. They can only order by choosing a number.

And most importantly, the King's orders are _absolute_.

We were grouped up in Kirito and Asuna's room, sitting at the center of the room where a table was present. Us three guys occupied one side of the table while the girls sat opposite us. Pina was sleeping back in our room.

When we were deciding on who occupies what room, they all decided that the couples would share rooms. Despite what happened in the past, I was a bit shy and self-conscious about sharing a room with someone, let alone my girlfriend, but since Silica didn't raise a fuss, I guess I shouldn't, either.

Though…I did get quite a few stares when Silica let slip that she was 'used to it.'

"Here's a box filled with 20 pieces of paper. It also said that when all the orders are completed, the box rewards the players with a super-rare item." Lizbeth explained. "I don't know how this item considers an order as 'completed', so I'm not too keen on cheating. Let's just complete the orders as best as we can."

"Ooh, sounds fun. Let's do it." I nodded. An interesting variation of the game. I can't wait to get started.

"Alright!" Lizbeth shouted, holding the stack of sticks. We reached in and picked up a stick. Who's the king~!?"

Silica raised her stick. "It's me!"

"Alright, pick up your order and let's get started."

Silica reached inside the box and took a piece of paper out. "Hmm...number 2 will shake hands with number 4!" Asuna and Kirito shrugged and shook hands

"Wait, that's it?" Lizbeth remarked, underwhelmed by the order.

"Be careful what you wish for." I warned her.

The game continues. "I'm King!" I exclaimed, showing everyone my marked stick. "Hmmm…number 10 will give the King a...piggyback ride?"

"Alright! piggyback ride it is!" Sefton quickly went over to Lizbeth and kneeled.

"Oi, oi. Aren't you too hyped up about this?" Lizbeth asked.

"I told you to be careful what you wish for." I chimed in.

Lizbeth cleared her throat and clambered onto Sefton's shoulders. I could tell how embarrassed she was.

"Yoisho! Yoisho!" Sefton hurriedly grabbed her legs and stood up. "Haha! Witness me, the Four-Armed Asura! Yoisho! Yoisho!"

"Oi! Idiot! Stop!"

"Yoisho! Yoisho!" Sefton flung her around.

"Gyaaa! Stop iiiiiiit!" Liz shouted, grabbing the top of Sefton's head.

This continued on for a few minutes before Sefton laid her down. "Ah...hah...that was tiring…"

"Haaah...you idiot…"

I clapped my hands. "Alright let's move on."

The game continued. "Alright! I'm King!" Silica exclaimed, drawing out another piece of paper. "Number 4 will blow on number 2's ear...eh?"

"Wait, seriously?" Kirito sighed, showing everyone that he got number 4.

"Yeah, seriously." I replied, showing my stick with a '2' on it.

"Okay. Well, at least it's you, so it's not that awkward." He stood up and started walking towards me. I noticed that the girls were watching with bated breath. Wait, they're into that? Huh…

Well, if it's a show they want, I guess I'll give it to them.

Kirito blew on my ear. "Ahhn~" I moaned, putting as much effort to sound as erotic as possible.

I visibly saw that everyone inside shiver, like they were hit by a Freezing debuff.

I chuckled and gave a thumbs up. "My job here is done, let's move on."

"I'm the King!" Asuna exclaimed. "Let's see...Number 5 will kiss the king!...eh? E-e-e-ehh?!" Asuna's eyes darted around the room, frantically trying to figure out who number 5 was.

I cleared my throat. "I'm number 5."

"Eh? R-Riwet-kun?"

"Yeah."

"Hohoo~" Lizbeth cooed.

"Oya, oya~" Sefton added.

"Oi." Kirito looked towards me and scowled.

"*staaaaaaaaaare*" Silica was gazing intently at me.

"Alright, alright. Hold your horses." I turned my attention back to Asuna. "Hand."

"Wh-what?"

"Hand." I repeated.

"Oh, yeah. Hand." Asuna held her hand out. I took her hand and kissed her.

In normal circumstances, I would've been more than glad to be able to kiss the hand of an attractive lady. But given our current relationship..."...it feels...weird…" I muttered.

"I'm with you on that…" Asuna replied.

I turned my head to face the others. "Where did you guys expect me to kiss her?" I sighed and approached Silica. "Hand." She nodded and lifted her hand up, which I then kissed. "Right. Let's get a move on."

The game continued without incident. "Number 2 will say something in a deep voice." Asuna ordered.

"Hmm, what should I say...ah! I got it! Fu...alright, here goes." Silica took a deep breath and posed, then she held her hand out towards me. "If you'd like...I'll take you to a special place. A place ...where wishes come true…"

I was, quite frankly, utterly entranced. The only reason why I was able to compose myself and not just stare like an idiot was because the others applauded her.

The otherworldly angel in front me slowly dissipated into the cheerful, but easily-embarrassed girl that I came to love. "H-how did I do?" Silica asked meekly.

"...you were amazing." I replied as I patted her head.

"Ehehe~"

"Alright, that one's done. Let's continue."

After half an hour of fun, we whittled the list down to just one. "Alright! I'm the King!" Kirito exclaimed. "Alright, for our final order...the King, Number 4, and Number 5 will tell short stories."

"Ooh, scary stories! I'm excited!" Sefton exclaimed, showing that he got number 4.

I showed my stick, which was marked with a number 5. "I'm pretty meh on them…" I recalled something, and I smiled. "Though...I've got good a one ready to go."

Asuna turned towards Silica. "A-are you scared, Silica-chan?"

"Just a bit...how about you, Asuna-san?"

"Totally...not! A-ahaha!" Her shaking tone was anything but convincing.

Lizbeth sighed. "Alright. Let's do this. The sooner we get this done, the better." It was clear in her tone that she doesn't particularly like scary stories.

"Okay. Who wants to go first?" Kirito looked at the two of us. Sefton raised his hands. "Alright...but before you start…" Kirito opened his Player Menu and started manipulating some options. After a few moments, he closed his Menu and snapped his fingers.

Almost immediately, three red, ominous-looking candles appeared, and the candle lit up with an eerie orange light. Then, the room's ambient lighting slowly darkened, leaving only the candles as the sole sources of light.

"Kirito-kun? Is this really necessary?" Asuna complained.

"Oh, but it is…also, in order for us to clear this one, everyone should listen to _every single detail._ Okay?"

"~~~" The girls nodded. They looked like they were one jumpscare away from losing it.

"That said...Sefton, take it away."

"Okay...this actually happened to me… five years ago, I was helping my mother in shopping for groceries. It was on a late winter night. All seemed fine and well. I even convinced my mother to buy me my favorite snack while I go grab some stuff that she needed."

"However, I accidentally wandered off to the seafood department. What I saw there changed me…" He shuddered.

Asuna covered her mouth. "No...was it…"

"Oh, it was just fish. Just a piece of a cod head. But, I swear to God, when I looked at that fish's eyes, it...turned to look at me as well."

"And suddenly, it started moving...it started… _breathing_. Haaah...haaah...it didn't have a body, but it was breathing. Blood was spurting from its neck. Haaah...haaah…

"Then, it spat something out something...it spat out…" Sefton muttered, his voice barely audible.

"S-so...what did it-" Asuna started to ask.

"IT WAS A HUMAN EYE!" Sefton screamed at the top of his lungs.

"Kyaaaaa!" "Waah!" The girls screamed and held each other for comfort. I noticed Kirito also wince back a bit.

It didn't really have much of an effect for me. My dad's a big fan of western slasher films and I watch it with him. That, and my love for Resident Evil and Dead Space, made me adequately desensitized to most horror stories involving gore. "Seriously? That happened?" I asked.

Sefton must've felt bad for scaring the girls, because he immediately shook his head. "Well, aside from the eye spitting, it really happened."

"Ugh, gross." I turned towards Kirito. "Well, you're up."

"Alright." Kirito nodded before facing the girls. "You know, I heard some rumors recently. In a certain forest...in a certain floor...a ghost seems to appear."

Oh shit. "You mean...like Astral-type monsters?" Asuna asked meekly.

Kirito slowly shook his head. "Oh, no...it was a ghost...a human girl...or what was once a human girl…"

Fucking shit.

Now that...that's my kryptonite.

"The rumor came from a player - a merchant specializing in woodworking. The lumber from the trees in that forest are of excellent quality, so he got to work cutting them down. He was so focused on work that he forgot to keep track of time. By the time he was done, it was already night. As he was walking away towards the exit, he caught a glimpse of something white beneath a nearby tree…"

"..." Part of my body wanted to cover my ears, but I took a deep breath and managed to resist the urge. The room was dead silent. Beads of sweat covered Asuna's forehead, and even Sefton was breathing anxiously.

Kirito took a deep breath and continued "The player got flustered thinking that it was a monster, but when he looked closer, it was a little girl. She had long, black hair on white garments and she was slowly walking towards a grove of trees. _'If it wasn't a monster, it could only be a player.'_ The player thought, gazing at her."

"—There wasn't a cursor."

"...hn…" A soft cry unintentionally leaked out from one of the girls.

"' _There's no way that's possible_.' Thought the player as he got closer to the girl. He even called out to her. Doing so, the girl suddenly stopped moving and gradually turned around towards him...it was at this moment that the player finally noticed something unusual. The girl, as the moonlight shone down onto her white clothes, the trees next to her...could be seen right through her."

"—!" I managed to stifle a scream. I gritted my teeth and clenched my hands tight.

"Fearing for his life, he ran as fast as his legs could handle. Finally getting away far enough to spot the light from the village, he figured that he was safe and stopped... wheezing,

he turned to look behind..."

"And there wasn't anyone there. And he lived happily ever after."

"...Ki-Ki-Kirito-kun, you idiot—!" Asuna finally screamed.

"Hahaha!" Kirito laughed out loud.

Everyone besides Kirito breathed a steady sigh of relief. Truth be told, I was glad that the story ended the way it did. Yes, it was anticlimactic, but I don't know how much more I could take.

"Alright. Last but not the least, Riwet. Take it away." Kirito said, and all eyes were on me.

Even though I hate these kinds of supernatural stories, I don't mind telling them. It's my way to cope with hearing these stories. And seeing other people be equally frightened as I was reassured me that it was okay to be scared.

"My story is kinda like Kirito's, but also a bit different. I heard a couple of rumors from some of the Clearers that I knew. Apparently...they would hear a slight knocking on their bedroom doors in the dead of the night."

"A lot of them chalk it up to mental fatigue...or at least...that's what they wish the case was. However...some had other theories. They believed that the system governing SAO was starting to fall apart. The millions of monsters killed and the extreme emotions the players experienced all culminated into a physical glitch - a vengeful ghost…" I looked straight at the girls "...and they have their sights on Clearers…"

The girls were speechless. "Wh-why would they be targeting Clearers?" Silica whimpered.

"Like I said, the spirit was made out of extreme emotions. Anger at being trapped in this death game and blaming the Clearers for not clearing the game already...being jealous at the Clearer's items and equipment...as for the monsters, which type of player do you think has killed the most amount of monsters?

"Clearers…" Silica muttered.

I took a deep breath. "They say that, at the dead of night, you could hear a slight knocking on your door...of course, you could choose to ignore it, but dare I say...ignore it at your own peril…"

The whole room was quiet for a moment. As if on cue, two soft knocks were heard from the door.

"Wh-what the hell was that?" Sefton squealed.

"What noise? I didn't hear anything." I dismissed. Truth be told, I almost shat my pants when I heard that, but fortunately, I had a good idea as to what sound that was so I decided to seize the opportunity.

The knocks persisted. "H-hey? Surely, you can hear that, right?" Kirito asked me.

I nodded "Yeah. Someone's knocking on your door...you should go see who's knocking."

"Y-you've gotta be kidding me."

Kirito slowly stood up and approached the door. He slowly turned the handle and pulled.

At this point, all hell broke loose.

"Kyurururuuru!" My partner in crime roared excitedly and quickly into the room.

'Waah!" "GYAAAAH! "KYAAAAAA!" Everyone was screaming bloody murder.

I already knew that Pina was the one knocking since she did that same thing earlier in the day, so I just went with it. Silica was too distracted by the story to even consider Pina.

Also, the story? Complete hogwash.

"Pina, geez!" Silica puffed her cheeks.

"Nice job, Pina." I threw her a piece of peanut.

"Kyurururu!" She caught the peanut and flew towards me, perching on my shoulder.

"Who's a good girl? Yes, you are. Yes, you are." I nuzzled her cheek with my fingers.

As soon as they got a clear look at what entered the room, they all quickly calmed down. Well...everyone except for Asuna. "I didn't see anything, I didn't hear anything, I didn't see anything, I didn't hear anything, I didn't see anything, I didn't hear anything…" She was curled up facing the corner. It took a couple of minutes for Kirito to finally calm her down.

After that final order, the box spat out a sphere of light. The sphere landed in front of the box and formed into a chest. We opened the chest.

"...sake buns." Lizbeth finally said.

"All that work for a bunch of sake buns?" Kirito sighed. "This better be the most delicious sake buns that ever existed."

"Wait, sake? Is it alcoholic?" I asked.

"I dunno. Let's try one each." Lizbeth suggested. "One little thing can't possibly make us drunk, right?"

As we took one piece of bun each, I was dumbfounded by the events that unfolded.

Lizbeth just made the biggest understatement of the year.

 _ *****  
Loading...Complete  
**_ _ **Changing Perspective: Third Person  
*****_

The first thing Silica felt was lingering pain. This was different from the loud pounding that accompanied a thrilling battle. This sensation was like a vice pressing against her temples.

"Ughhhh…" She groaned as she got up. She heard voices from outside her room, and she went outside to check.

She found Sefton, Lizbeth, Kirito, and Asuna outside. Like her, they had marks of exhaustion on their faces, but unlike her, the four were flustered for some reason.

Riwet was nowhere to be seen.

"Good morning…" Silica muttered.

"G-good morning, Silica-chan!" Asuna replied. The others greeted her in turn.

"...what happened yesterday night?" She asked.

Lizbeth shook her head. "We can't remember anything from yesterday night...only...this morning..." She muttered, almost inaudibly.

"Oh! O-oh yeah. Silica-san, have you seen Riwet? He might remember something…" Sefton changed the subject before Silica could ask further.

"No...hm?" As if on cue, Silica Received a message from Riwet. "...he said he's at the dining area…"

"Well...let's go."

The five of them found Riwet in the dining area. "Good morning, everyone. I assume you had an interesting morning?"

Four of the five players facing him stiffened up.

Kirito sheepishly rubbed the back of his head and looked away. Asuna looked down as she scratched her cheek. Sefton blushed from ear to ear. Lizbeth tried to play it off.

Silica tilted her head to the side. _What's going on?_ She thought. Other than having no memory of the night before, and that terrible headache, her waking moments were totally normal.

Riwet just flashed a knowing smile. "Here." He took out five glass cups filled with tea. "Drink up."

They took a cup each and started sipping. Silica's headache immediately started to clear up. "So...what happened yesterday?" Silica asked.

"Hmm...first off, what do you guys remember last night?" Riwet asked.

Kirito's brows furrowed. "I remember...us playing the King's game and doing some orders…"

"Yeah…" Asuna added.

"But other than that…" Lizbeth trailed off.

Riwet nodded. "I see, I see...then, does _sake bun_ ring a bell?"

"...!" This time, all of them went rigid.

"Yeah. You guys got drunk off of eating just one sake bun. I ate two and I didn't feel anything, but I stopped before I got wasted.

"Then...you remember what happened?"

"Yup. I remember _everything_ that happened." Riwet's smile widened. "In fact, I recorded it to catch every single detail." He took out a Record Crystal. "I know I'm being 'that guy' who records others being drunk without their consent, but I can assure you that this is something that can't be described by words. I'll delete it later, I promise. So, are you ready?"

They all nodded.

"Alright, let's fire it up." He pressed a button on the crystal, and it projected a 16:9 screen.

Almost immediately after the recording started, the five players were greeted by Kirito. His hair and clothes were disheveled, and he had a slack-jawed, unfocused stare.

"Kirito, cut it out. You've eaten too much." Riwet said from behind the frame. They observed that the frame was following Riwet's point of view.

Record Crystals have two configurations. The first configuration is that it follows where the user is facing, similar to holding a video cam in front of the face. The second configuration is static, much like placing a video cam on a tripod.

"What are you *hic* saying, Riwet?! *hic*...we're not dun yet!" Kirito shouted, trying to eat another sake bun. Riwet reached out and took the sake bun from Kirito. "What're you doing? *Hic* Give it back!"

"No. You've had enough."

"Give it back! Give it baack…" Kirito whimpered like a child.

"...I feel like I've done something really terrible. What about you Sefton? Got anything to add?"

"Heh…" The view shifted to the side, and Sefton greeted the frame with a dopey smile and a thumbs up. "Hehe...hehehe…*hic*" He paused before he started laughing again.

"...alright. I'll leave you to it then."

"..." Kirito was stunned speechless at what he was watching.

"Oh man...Oh man…" Sefton had his head on his hands, repeating the same phrase over and over.

"Don't worry. The best is yet to come. Oh, there it is." Riwet stated.

"Sheftoonn~. Hehe, I wuv you~" Lizbeth suddenly entered the frame, glomping onto Sefton and nuzzling her head on his chest. "Hehehe *hic*...ehehehe~"

"Kirito-kun!" Asuna swooped into view and grabbed Kirito by the collar. "Why haven't you done anything to me yet?! *hic* I want you to * and * me! * my * and * it!

As the six of them watched the scene, only Riwet was smiling. The rest were pale from shock. Lizbeth acting like that was one thing, but Asuna was on another level.

And speaking of Asuna, there she was, appalled by her drunken self.

Interestingly, Silica was out of frame most of the time, and all she did was just lay down on the floor.

The disaster continued for a short time before Riwet decided that enough was enough. "Alright, alright. You guys have had your fun. Lizbeth, Sefton. I'll take you to your rooms." He went over to the couple and picked them up.

"Heheeheh *hic*" "fuhi...fuhihihi *hic*" The couple just giggled and babbled.

"Just don't drool on me, yeah?" Riwet carried them into their room and laid them on the ground. "Alright, Silica's next."

Riwet walked back to the married couple's room. "Kirito? Asuna? I'm just gonna get Silica to her room, okay. Can I come in?"

"Krioo-huun!"

"Hashuna!"

"*hic*Krioo-huun~!"

"Ha*hic*Hashu..shu…*hachoo!*"

"Oookay, them." Riwet opened the door. Kirito was lying on the ground face-up. Asuna was beside him, lying face-down. Both were screaming nonsense.

"Alright, let's get you to bed, Silica." The camera panned over to where Silica was. It was the first time in the recording that Silica was fully shown. Unlike the other four, she was silently laying down on the ground. She slowly moved her body in reaction to Riwet. "Alright. Up we go. Are you alright?" He lifted her up in a bridal carry.

"Mn…" Silica groaned and nodded.

"Okay, let's go and have a res-OH, MY GOD! OHHHKAY, time to cut the vi-" The video abruptly ended.

"Wait, what happened?" Lizbeth asked.

"I turned the video off because…" Riwet pointed at Kirito and Asuna. "These two started 'doing it.'The married couple's faces darkened. "And on top of that…" Riwet pointed towards Lizbeth and Sefton. "You two were doing it as well. I could hear the sounds from beyond your room." Sefton and Lizbeth were crestfallen. "And judging by your reactions when I asked about your mornings, you four already know that, right?'

The four remained silent.

"What about me…what did I do?" Silica asked.

"...are you sure that you wanna know?"

Silica silently nodded. She knew that she would regret this, for ignorance is bliss, but she just _had_ to know.

"...alright, if you insist." Riwet took a deep breath. "I ran out of their room and went inside ours. I set you down the bed and...you, uh...wrapped your arms around me and switched our positions."

"!" Silica's face went pale.

"...you pinned me and started shoving your tongue down my throat."

"!" Silica's face erupted.

"And as you were reaching down and trying to undress me..."

"You kinda burped on my face."

"..." Silica was simply mortified.

"Full disclosure, I'm not into that. Are you into that?"

"NO! NONONONO! I AM NOT INTO THAT!" Silica shouted. She couldn't look him in the eyes.

Riwet cleared his throat. "Aside from that, nothing else happened. I switched our positions back and just held you down until you fell asleep.:

"Let us never speak of this again." Asuna declared before she turned to Riwet. The others nodded in unison.

"Alright. Should I delete the evidence?"

"Yes."

"Alright. If you guys say so." Riwet opened his Player Menu. All eyes were on his menu, and they confirmed that he put it in the trash.

The five breathed a sigh of relief and took a big sip of their respective tea.

"Well, I dunno about you guys, but I'll be looking forward to next year." Riwet chimed in.

"Pfff!"

The five players simultaneously did a spit take.

 ** _***  
Chapter End  
***_**

 **A/N:** Freaking finally. That one's done. I had fun with writing this, but it felt like I was writing this chapter for a very long time.

Side note: I just realized that there's a word limit on Chapter titles.

That's all for now. Thank you very much, and have a good one.


	27. CH 25 - Electric Sheep

Chapter 26 - Do AI Dream of Electric Sheep?

 _November 1, 2024_

"It's been a while, Yulier-san." I greeted the person waiting for me on the 1st Floor Teleport Gate.

"Indeed." She replied. I could see marks of stress on her face. "Thank you for taking the time to help us."

I nodded. "I'm glad to help. Let's go."

Yulier nodded back and we went on our way.

Kibaou finally made his move three days ago. He called for a meeting with Thinker, and asked that they would be alone and without equipment. Thinker agreed. During their meeting, Kibaou used a Corridor Crystal and forced Thinker inside it before he quickly Teleported to an unknown Corridor Crystal's destination was set in a high-level dungeon, and Thinker was trapped there without any equipment. Portal PK - a classic technique. Fortunately, his name was still unaltered on the Monument of Life and he hadn't moved from his location, so he must've found a safe zone.

Unfortunately, only Kibaou and Thinker were the only ones in possession of the Scroll of Contracts - an item signifying a player's leadership of a guild. Typically, a guild only had one Scroll of Contracts, but the Army had two ever since they merged with MMO Today. With Thinker out of the picture, the Aincrad Liberation Squad will be under Kibaou's sole control. Taxation rates, officer allocation, treasury funds... _everything._

The damage was already being felt by the inhabitants of this city. The Army started extorting people for money, and the bastard was getting bolder and bolder by the day.

Ever since that event, Wilhelm and his contacts, one of which was Yulier, were hard at work trying to help Thinker out. They gave me the details of the dungeon - an underground Emergent Dungeon smack-dab in the middle of the Starting City. Despite being on the 1st Floor, the monsters' levels were equivalent to the ones found on the 60th Floor.

In addition to that, a Dungeon Boss was also sighted deep within the dungeon. It was only seen for a split second, so its level and general appearance were undetermined.

Finally, there may be other traps that we don't know about. Only Kibaou's faction ventured the deepest, and they weren't willing to share the info with the players outside their circle. Hell, Kibaou found the dungeon and was able to hide it from Yulier and Thinker for a long time, pillaging all of its resources along the way.

Finding help within the guild was not feasible. They grossly underestimated the power that Kibaou still had. His supporters popped out of nowhere, relentlessly pressuring and converting the members who were not fully committed on either side. All of a sudden, Wilhelm's circle don't know who to trust.

Yulier wasn't strong enough to traverse the dungeon alone, and while their contacts were skilled in dealing with guild politics and negotiations, they weren't going to be of much help on the battlefield. Wilhelm said that he would come down and deal with the matter personally, but he was indisposed of in the front lines doing something that he wasn't allowed to talk about. He could go AWOL, but that would mar his reputation with the KoB. This is the Army we're talking about. At best, he'll get reprimanded. At worst, he'll be touted as a mole who infiltrated KoB to find out about its weaknesses for the Army to exploit.

I would've been able to handle it since it was within my safety margins, but they didn't like risking me going at it alone with so many unknowns. I argued that that's what I'm essentially doing as a Clearer, but they were adamant.

Their original plan was this - If they were unable to find an alternative for four days, they would contact me and the three of us would traverse the dungeon. Two Clearer-level players could handle a lot of what the dungeon had to offer, and we were both tanky enough to adapt to unexpected situations. Yuiler, a Whip user, would do what she could from a distance. Wilhelm would risk his current status in the KoB, but he said that Thinker was worth it.

However, an alternative presented itself yesterday. Two very high-leveled players appeared in the Starting City, completely obliterating a couple of some morally lacking Army members before staying at the church. Normally, the only ones present in the city were non-combatants or players visiting for a quick check at the Monument of Life, but it seemed that they had some other business being there.

The modified plan was now Yulier would try to convince the players to help her. I'd accompany her just in case. The players already had a run-in with a couple of Army bastards, so I wouldn't blame them if they think that she's just another Army grunt and act accordingly.

Safe zones with Cities built inside them prevents HP damage from all sources. If the source was a player, that player would _not_ get an orange cursor. Really good for mock battles, but obviously it's incredibly rude to do that out of the blue to an unsuspecting passerby.

There was an incident of some sorts regarding players being killed while inside the safe zone, but it turned out to be an elaborate plan to flush out a scumbag. The 'victims' were revealed to alive and in on it, and said scumbag was sent to jail. As of now, the only way for a player to damage another player is when they agree to a duel.

Regardless, being shunned and beaten to the ground was the last thing Yulier needed right now. And I'll be there to bail her out if the situation gets heated.

The only reason why they knew about Kibaou's betrayal was that Yulier followed Thinker in secret, but she was too late to do anything. Wilhelm told me that she never stopped to rest for the last three days.

We finally made our way to the church. I could hear some commotion from the inside. Sounded like kids being rowdy. From what I have heard, A kind lady volunteered to care for the younger players who managed to get their hands on NerveGears even though they were so very young.

Yulier took a deep breath and knocked. The commotion died, and the door opened after a few moments.

We were greeted by four people.

A young woman with brown hair and green eyes with a pair of rimless sunglasses. She was wearing a long navy blue dress with a white collar. The caretaker?

A timid-looking young girl with long, dark hair and bright, dark eyes. She was wearing a pink sweater and a purple skirt. We locked eyes for a moment. "...!" She quickly darted and hid behind one of the players.

And last but not the least, two players about my age. One male and one female. He had jet-black hair and eyes with a handsome, almost effeminate face. He was wearing a simple set of black t-shirt and trousers. She had long-chestnut hair and eyes, accentuating her beautiful face. She was wearing a pale yellow sweater with a light brown skirt.

At first glance, they seemed to be normal residents of the Starting City, afraid to venture outside the city's safety.

But make no mistake, these two players might be the strongest players of SAO.

Kirito and Asuna. Well, this was unexpected.

Yulier bowed. "Hello. My name is Yulier."

Asuna took a glance at Yulier, and then at me. "...Riwet-kun?" Asuna's voice was stern, and her tone was wordlessly asking me what the hell am I doing with an Army member. I shook my head and pointed at Yulier. She nodded and turned her attention back to Yulier. "You're with the Army, yes? Have you come to question us because of the incident yesterday?"

Yulier shook her head. "Not at all. In fact, I would like to thank you for your actions." The players looked at each other in confusion, which was not helped by her next sentence. "I would like to ask for your assistance."

They looked at her intently for a moment before Kirito finally spoke up. "At the very least, you're different from the ones that we encountered yesterday." He turned to his companions. "Let's at least hear her out."

They nodded in unison and motioned us into the church. "Do you know these people?"

"Only the two players." I motioned my head to Kirito and Asuna. "I can attest to their ridiculous strength, and are more than capable of handling the mission...that is, if they'll agree to help." I'm more than 50% sure that they'll agree, but I don't wanna get her hopes up.

They went inside into the hall. There were other players present in the building - they were well-hid behind rooms, which slowly opened when the young woman, named Sasha, told them that there's no danger and they could come out.

We went further in, opening the door to a room on the side. Yulier and Sasha went in, but before us four would come in, the young girl hiding behind Kirito peered intently at me. "..."

I stared back at her. "...?"

"Yui? What's the matter?" Kirito called out.

"Hmm...*sniff**sniff*...?" The girl, apparently called Yui, approached me and started sniffing at me. She started with my front, and then on my arms, then hands, then to one of my pockets.

I took out what was in my pocket. It was Pina's favorite peanuts. "Is this what you're smelling?" I asked.

"Wah!" Her face lit up. I handed it to her. "Look, mama, papa! Peanuts!"

"..." I was speechless. I took a look at Kirito. And then at Asuna. I looked at Yulier. "Can you give us five minutes?" Yulier nodded and they closed the door. Then I pointed at the kid and tilted my head. "...uhh, what?"

Kirito and Asuna gave me a brief rundown. Yesterday, they went to the place where that young female ghost was rumored to be. They found her, but she wasn't a ghost. They then went here on the 1st Floor to find someone who knows the girl, but apparently, it was a real girl. She wasn't transparent, but she didn't have a cursor.

When they asked her what was she doing there, Yui revealed that she couldn't remember anything. They tried to look for someone who knew her. So that's why they were in this place. However, Yui didn't seem to recognize this place or anybody in here, nor did anybody recognize her.

Meanwhile, Yulier was apologizing profusely at Sasha for the Army's absolutely hideous actions.

I turned towards Yui. "Nice to meet you, Yui-chan. My name's Riwet."

"...Ri..et…? Riu…Ri...Rie…Ri...et?" Yui mumbled, her eyebrows furrowing.

"...she can't pronounce names well. She's getting better ever since we met her, but…" Asuna spoke solemnly. She explained that Yui calls Asuna 'mama' and Kirito 'papa' just to make it easier for her.

She looked like a 10-year-old, but she acted like she was younger. Living in SAO must've messed her up.

No child should ever experience a death game. Hell, _no one_ should ever experience a death game, period.

Well, except for the absolute scum of the earth.

I smiled at her and crouched down, meeting her eye level. "It's okay. My name's kinda hard to pronounce. You can call me whatever that's easier for you. RiiRii, Rie, Ricchan...you name it."

"Then...onii-chan?" She tilted her head and looked at me expectantly.

"...well, that works, I guess."

"Ah...ehehe!" Her face lit up and she smiled.

I smiled back. I thought of something to break the ice. "That's right, Yui-chan. We're all one big happy family." I turned towards Kirito and Asuna. "Right... _papa_? _Mama?_ " I smiled.

"-!" They shuddered. I know that Yui just called me 'onii-chan' because it's an easy term for a male person who is older than you, but that also meant 'big brother". And if I'm Yui's big brother...

I'm gonna have fun with this, but for now, it's about time to do what we came here for.

We went inside the room and Yulier explained the situation. I distanced myself and looked out at the window. I didn't want to influence the Kirito and Asuna's decision.

"..." Kirito and Asuna held their heads down to ruminate. Like Yulier said, it was a lot to ask, and they have their hands full with caring for Yui.

"...It's okay, mama. She's telling the truth." Yui suddenly spoke up.

"Yui-chan, you can tell?" Asuna asked.

"...I don't know how...but I know."

I tilted my head. There's something strange about Yui. One minute, she acts younger than her age, the next minute she acts older. Her statement wasn't based on any kind of fact, but I felt like I could trust her.

"In any case, I'd rather regret doubting her than regret trusting her." Kirito said. "Let's go. It'll work out somehow, right?" What a very Kirito thing to say.

Asuna looked at him before she smiled. "You're as optimistic as ever." She turned back to Yulier. "We'll do what we can to help you."

Yulier bowed low. "I cannot thank you enough…"

"I can sympathize with wanting to save someone close to you."

Kirito turned towards Yui. "Wait here until we're back, okay?"

Yui shook her head. "No, I'll go, too!"

Sasha chimed in. "Yui-chan, let's wait for them here together."

"No!"

"So she's at the rebellious phase, huh?" Kirito commented.

"Don't be silly!" Asuna retorted before she turned back to Yui. "Yui-chan, we're heading to a dangerous place."

"Uuuu~ I'm going, too!" Yui clung to Kirito's arm.

After all that, they decided to bring Yui along. Yulier didn't object because she wasn't in any position to object.

Kirito and Asuna changed into their battle gear and prepped their stuff. I'm all good to go, but one more check won't hurt.

Once all that was done, the five of us headed out to the dungeon.

I silently reflected on current developments. Seemed like my priorities have changed from getting Thinker out to protecting Kirito, Asuna, and Yui while we go and get thinker out. While prioritizing on who to save and dealing with the fact that I might not be strong enough to save all of them gave me a bad taste in my mouth, it's better for me to think about it sooner than later, lest I hesitate and lose all of them.

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For all intents and purposes, when it comes to this dungeon, I've been through worse, and pretty sure that was true for Kirito and Asuna as well.

We were a good ways inside the dungeon. We faced large groups of Scavenge Toads. Doesn't make sense grammatically, I know.

Anyways. They had four eyes and a pair of horns, and one of them was slightly bigger than an average player. Their main attack is to overwhelm players with sheer numbers. Simple, but effective.

But not effective enough for us.

"Haaaa! Uryaaa!" Kirito was having the time of his life. He was on break for a week, so he had plenty of energy saved up. His twin Elucidators tore through enemies with reckless abandon.

No problems on my end, as well. My stats were balanced enough that I could shrug off just about anything that these slimy bastards would throw at me. Plus, I'm letting Kirito indulge himself, so I'm left with the scraps.

I'm okay with dealing with leftovers since Yui was watching. Even Silica told me that I get really intense when I'm in the thick of it so I'll spare her the sight.

The three girls were standing on the sidelines. "I apologize for not being of any help." Yulier said to Asuna.

Asuna shook her head. "It's fine. You should just leave it to them. They need their daily dose of wanton violence, after all."

"Oi!" Kirito called out to the peanut gallery. "What's with that?!"

"What, you wanna switch?!" Asuna shouted back.

"...just a bit more!"

Asuna turned her attention back to Yulier. "See?"

After a few minutes of slaughter, Kirito and I finished up and started walking toward the three. Yulier opened her Player Menu and checked Thinker's location. "We're more than halfway there."

"Man, that was a good fight!" Kirito exclaimed.

"Sorry for not helping you."

"No, it's fine. It's fun and the drops are really good, too."

"Oh, did something good drop?" Asuna chimed in.

"Yep!" Kirito took something out of his inventory.

Asuna's face froze at the sight of the item. "Wh-what in the world is that?!" she squealed.

"Scavenge Toad Meat." Kirito proudly proclaimed. It looked like a frog's leg, about the size of a turkey leg. It looks like it was already prepared to be cooked - the skin was peeled off, revealing a dark red meat. "They say that the stranger it is, the better it tastes. Cook it later, okay?"

" _Absolutely not!"_ Asuna shouted. She grabbed the meat out of Kirito's hand and threw it away. The piece of meat landed and instantly disintegrated. She then accessed their shared inventory to throw it all away.

"No!" Kirito screamed in defiance, withdrawing every single Scavenge Toad Meat into a pile on his hands.

"No! No, no, NO!" Asuna retaliated by throwing the meat one by one.

"ASUNA! STOP THAT! YOU'RE THROWING AWAY ALL MY PRECIOUS MEAT!"

"NO!NO!NO!NO!NO!NO! TOSS IT ALREADY!"

These two were acting like a couple of kids.

Yulier found it amusing, and she left out a soft laugh. Yui picked up on it. "Onee-chan, you finally laughed!"

Yulier was taken aback by Yui, but she quickly smiled at her. Yui smiled back. Asuna approached Yui and held her hand. "Come on, let's go."

We marched on. The enemies we faced got stronger, but we still faced absolutely no issues.

When we reached a relatively quiet area, I looked at Yui and contemplated. This girl is certainly mysterious. An amnesiac player who didn't have a cursor and was found aimlessly wandering a random forest. She mostly acted like a kid, but she was incredibly precocious. I felt that she was way more mature than she looked, and she had a soothing effect on our morale. Strange…

I shook my head. Her secrets are her own. She left me alone with mine, so it's natural for me to do the same. After all of this is done, I'll make sure to help Kirito and Asuna find Yui's home.

Two more hours of exploration, and we were really close to the location. Yui was tired of walking and was being carried by Asuna. Finally, we rounded a corner and saw a light-filled room at the end of the passage.

"It's the safe zone!" Asuna exclaimed.

Kirito activated Scanning. "There's a player inside it."

Upon hearing Kirito's words, Yulier lit up and started running. We started running to match her pace.

The player Kirito detected also seemed to have noticed our presence since they came over to the entrance and started waving at us. Their face was indistinct due to the bright backlight. "Yulier!" They called out.

"Thinker!" Yulier shouted back as she ran even faster. Looks like we found our guy.

We breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at each other. But Thinker's next words snapped us back. "Don't come here! It's a trap!"

Almost immediately, a name popped up in my HUD. The Fatal Scythe. Its location was on the side. I thought it was behind a wall at first, but it turned out that the darkness of the hallway was hiding an intersecting path.

The enemy had 'The' in its name - meaning that it was a Boss Monster.

This is bad.

Yulier didn't hear Thinker's warning, nor did she see the hidden enemy. She just ran towards the room, coming closer and closer to the intersection. "Yuriel-san! Come back!" Asuna shouted. Kirito gritted his teeth and sprinted. Asuna and I struggled to catch up because Asuna was carrying Yui and I didn't have as much AGI as Kirito.

As soon as Yulier reach the intersection, a scythe came into view, aimed towards where Yulier would. For a moment, it seemed that it nothing could be done. Fortunately, Kirito was able to reach Yulier in the nick of time, stopping her just enough that the attack missed. The scythe hit the ground, destroying a large chunk of the floor.

The once dark hallway was now lit up. The walls started glowing, and it bathed the dungeon with an eerie pale blue color.

Asuna and I caught up to where they were. The monster retreated to the intersection and Kirito gave chase. "Yulier-san, please take refuge in the safe zone with Yui." Asuna said to Yulier. Yulier nodded and hurriedly took Yui to the safe zone. I nodded with Asuna and we rounded the corner.

Two figures entered our vision. The first was Kirito. He had his back towards us, and his twin Elucidators were drawn out.

The second figure was none other than the Dungeon Boss, The Fatal Scythe. It was massive legless skeleton covered in a tattered black robe, hovering over us and almost reaching the dungeon's ceiling, which was at least 3 meters tall. Its face was made of bone, and a pair of red lights glowed from its eye sockets. Its scythe was as big as the boss that was wielding it.

As for its stats…

This is _really_ bad.

Normally, my Scanning was leveled up enough that I could scan a monster's stats even if it was more powerful than me. As for The Fatal Scythe...I can't scan its stats.

Which meant that it was significantly more powerful than even the 74th Floor Boss.

I glanced at Kirito. "Kirito, please tell me you can Scan its stats."

Kirito shook his head. "No. Taking into account my Scanning Proficiency...I'd say that it's comparable to something that we'd see on the 90th Floor."

"Damn…"

At that point, the Dungeon Boss slowly hovered towards us. Kirito glanced at me and Asuna. "I'll stall for time, so you two hurry up and go to the safe zone!"

Asuna spoke up. "Not without you, Kirito-kun!"

"Don't worry about me! I'll catch up! Hurry!"

I grimaced and weighed my options. After a few seconds, I shook my head and went to Kirito's side. "What the hell are you doing?!" He shouted at me.

"We'll stall him together!" I turned towards Asuna. "Asuna, I promise that I'll keep Kirito safe, so please, hurry and go to the safe zone!"

Yes, Kirito was probably strong enough to stall for time and come out alive. But I couldn't keep the worst case scenario out of my mind - I would hear a loud crash from behind, and when I turn back, there'd be nothing but rubble and the Dungeon Boss.

Once is quite enough. This time, I'll make a difference.

Asuna went quiet for a while. "Take care of Yui! Please escape with her!" She shouted.

"Asuna!" Kirito objected.

Asuna didn't listen. She went to Kirito's side and took a stance.

No turning back now. The three of us stood our ground. From behind us, Yulier took out three Teleport Crystals.

At that moment, boss' eyes lit up and it started charging vigorously, hefting its scythe for a diagonal slash coming towards my side first. I held my glaive with both my hands and pressed my right elbow on the flat of my blade. Kirito crossed his swords together. Asuna clung to him from behind and crossed her rapier in front of him.

The Boss let loose its attack, and I was blown off my feet.

I was spinning like a top. I heard a sickening crunch as one of my feet hit the floor, but it made my momentum slow enough to control. I rolled on the ground for a bit before I jammed my glaive into the ground and knelt.

I took a look at my health. One-fifth of my life was gone. It was damaging, but I was confident that I could handle that attack better from now on.

Kirito and Asuna were so much worse off. Since their player builds were focused on DPS and evasion, that attack instantly halved their HP. Worse, they landed on the ground near the boss. And even worse than that, they were stunned by the attack. Kirito tried to push himself off the ground, but his arms gave out and he fell down.

Shit. I need to hurry. I stood up, but I was immediately forced to kneel. I looked at my legs. My left foot was missing, cut at my Achilles heel. I gritted my teeth and limped forward, taking out a Purifying Crystal to heal my dismembered foot.

Only to realize that we were now suddenly in an Anti-Crystal Area. What the hell? We just used a crystal, like, five minutes ago! Was it because of that damn Dungeon Boss?

Meanwhile, The Fatal Scythe slowly closed its distance between Kirito. If it attacked one more time, Kirito would be dead.

And I'm not gonna make it.

Come on! COME ON!

Fuck it, the situation's gotten that dire.

I took out another item. The Divine Stone of Returning Soul. I just hope that I could wobble close enough to be in range.

The only good news was that we three were blown away closer to the safe zone. Fortunately, it seemed that the safe zone permitted Crystals.

But something completely unexpected happened.

"Yui-chan! Stop!" "Come ba-" Thinker and Yulier shouted before they Teleported away. I looked to my side, and there was Yui. Despite everything that happened, and despite what we were going against, she calmly walked out outside the safe zone and stopped in between Kirito and the Fatal Scythe.

"You idiot! Get away!" "Yui-chan!" Kirito and Asuna screamed. I could see that they were trying their damnedest to get up to their feet but to no avail.

I saved my breath and just continued to hobble forward. A single thought entered my brain - the kind that made me want to rip my brain clean out of my skull.

The Dungeon Boss heaved its massive scythe and aimed for Yui.

"It's okay, mama, papa, onii-chan." Despite the massive monster in front of her. She remained absolutely calm/

The Fatal Scythe unleashed its attack. However, a few meters before it hit her, a purple barrier appeared and blocked the attack. The Fatal Scythe was blown back. Its eyes were spinning about, and it seemed almost bewildered by how it was repelled.

As for Yui, a system message appeared above her.

Immortal Object. An absolute proof that something, in this case, Yui, was impervious to any and all attacks.

...what the hell? No player should have something like this.

As if the current situation wasn't strange enough, Yui started to float, coming at a stop a good two meters off the ground. She held her hand out, and a sphere of red flame materialized in front of her palm. The sphere quickly materialized into a massive sword.

Calling the sword massive was an understatement. Its length was more than twice Yui's height, and it was wider than her arms. Most of the sword was jet-black, except for the outermost part of the blade which was colored white. Fire was burning from multiple areas of the sword.

Yui's sweater and skirt were burned away, revealing a white one-piece dress. Aside from that, Yui wasn't affected by the scorching blade.

Yui spun the sword into position and charged at the Dungeon Boss. She lifted her burning blade overhead and slammed it into the monster. The monster blocked it with the scythe's shaft, but her sword burned more and more. The scene was bright enough that I had to shield my face, but I didn't look away.

The Fatal Scythe's weapon couldn't handle the strain, and it split in half. Yui's massive sword cleaved into the Dungeon Boss' face. After a few seconds, Yui's greatsword disintegrated into a pillar of flame, and then into a sphere, fully engulfing the monster. The Fatal Scythe let out a high-pitched, almost pathetic scream, and it burned away like a piece of kindling.

And just like that, the whole area was quiet. I noticed that I could use crystals now. I used a Purifying Crystal on myself. When my foot grew back, I hurried over to my fallen partners and helped them to their feet, using enough healing items to completely fill their HP. Considering what we just went up against, I'm not taking any fucking chances.

When that was done, we looked at Yui. "Everyone…" She turned around to face us, and with tears in her eyes, she smiled wistfully. "My memories have returned."

She led us into the safe area. The safe area consisted of a spacious room. Its design was different from the rest of the Dungeon - the walls were smooth and white. The area was empty except for a black stone slab in the middle.

Yui sat on the stone slab, her face solemn. When Asuna asked if Yui remembered everything, Yui nodded and then called us by our names. Her perfect and polite pronunciation of our names was a jarring contrast to her earlier childish nicknames.

Yui explained who - or what - she was. A system called Cardinal existed inside Sword Art Online. This single automated system governed everything, from error correction to enemy AI management.

The developers behind Cardinal also entrusted Cardinal with managing the human players' mental state. They ran a trial program into Cardinal - a sort of counseling program to interact with players.

"Mental Health Counseling Program (MHCP) Version 1. Code Name: Yui. That's what I am."

We were all stunned silent. "You're a program…? An AI?" Asuna gasped.

Yui nodded. She explained that in order to effectively empathize with players, she was given the ability to emulate emotions. "Nothing about me is real..." Tears started falling from her eyes, disintegrating into particles when they dropped from her face. "...even these tears. I'm sorry, Asuna-san."

"Yui-chan…" Asuna approached Yui and reached out with her hand, but Yui slowly shook her head.

I finally took a deep breath and spoke up. "You lost your memories, right? How could that happen to an AI?"

Yui looked at me. "Two years ago, the day Sword Art Online officially launched, for some reason, Cardinal ordered me to not interact with the players in any way. Unable to do anything else, I just continued monitoring players."

Yui paused, taking a deep breath as she relived the events. "The situation was utterly horrible. Players were consumed by negative emotions. Fear, despair, rage...some even went completely insane." She shuddered. "Normally, I would've immediately gone to help the players, but I was forbidden to act. The order to not interfere conflicted with my fundamental duty to counsel players, and I started to accumulate errors. Eventually, I broke down under the strain…"

"Then...one day, I noticed two players with mental parameters that greatly differed from the others. Even though they experienced constant stress, and even though at one point in time they sunk into despair, when they were together...they were happy...they were at peace." She looked at Kirito and Asuna. "I wanted to get a little closer to you two, so I wandered the fields."

"So that was why you were in the forest on the 22nd Floor?" Asuna asked.

"Kirito-san, Asuna-san...I always wanted to meet you." Yui started crying again. "It's strange, isn't it? I'm nothing more than a program. I shouldn't be able to think like that. I'm not sure what happened to me."

Kirito, who was silent for the most part, walked forward. "Yui, the Cardinal's either completely lost control of you, or it forgot about you. Either way, right here and now, you should tell us what you want." He smiled at her. "What do you wish for?"

"I...I want…" Yui held her hands. "To always be with you. Papa! Mama!" She pleaded.

Asuna hurriedly ran to Yui's arms. "From now on...we'll always be together, Yui-chan!"

Kirito walked and hugged the two. "Yeah. You're our child. Let's get out of this place and go home."

I watched the heartwarming scene and decided to share my thoughts. "Yui-chan. I haven't spent as much time with you as Kirito and Asuna had, but you're a good kid. You've been through a lot. Go and rest with them."

However, Yui shook her head. "It's...too late now."

"What? Why is it too late?" Kirito asked, bewildered. The two broke away from Yui and looked at her.

Yui turned to the side and touched the stone slab that she was sitting on. "This is a console that allows GMs emergency access to the system. The reason why such a high-level monster was here was that it was guarding this console. I accessed the console to give myself the GM Exclusive Weapon - Object Eraser."

"This act made Cardinal aware of my existence once again. It's thanks to Cardinal that the accumulated errors that damaged my speech and memories were completely fixed, but since I ignored an order from Cardinal, it now recognizes me as a foreign entity. Any moment now, it'll begin deleting me…thank you, papa, mama, onii-chan. This is goodbye."

"No...No! I can't accept that!" Asuna hugged Yui tight. "This is only the beginning! We can live happily, enjoying our days together.

Yui started glowing. Kirito gasped and grasped her hand. "Yui! Don't go!"

"...when I'm with Papa and Mama, everyone can smile. Please...continue to save in my stead...and share your happiness with them."

"No! If you aren't here, I can't smile!" Asuna wailed.

"...mama...smile." Those were Yui's last words before she fully disintegrated into particles.

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I looked up at the sky and sighed. The weather was perfect for the picnic that we were having. In celebration of successfully rescuing Thinker, a garden party was held in the spacious front yard of Sasha's church. Kirito and Asuna were there, along with Thinker, Yulier, and Sasha and the kids.

I looked at the scene was happening around me. The leader of ALS, Thinker, bit into a barbeque with gusto. The food was prepared by Asuna, and it was really good. Yuiler was at his side, looking at him with a smile. They didn't have their guild uniforms on, so they looked just like a normal couple. Kirito, Asuna, and I were sat side by side opposite the two. Sasha was eating and having fun with the kids.

"Kirito-san, Asuna-san, Riwet-san. We are truly indebted to you." Thinker bowed.

I nodded silently.

Kirito smiled. "No, I'm quite indebted to MMO Today on the other side, after all."

Thinker smiled back. "That's a pretty nostalgic name. You know...with how much work is needed in maintaining a news site was, I decided to change it up a bit regarding this game. So what did I do? I ran a guild instead. Which is _infinitely_ harder."

We all laughed at that. "Speaking of guilds, how's the Army been doing?" Asuna enquired.

Thinker's expressions darkened slightly. "Kibaou and his followers disappeared, and I made the call to expel them from the guild. In addition to that, a lot of players didn't want to deal with the drama and just left. We lost more than half of the guild. I should've done this earlier. I can handle guild activities, but since I'm bad at arguments, the situation only got worse. I even considered just disbanding the whole guild."

Kirito looked at him evenly. "You seem to have thought about this a lot."

"The Army had become too large. We'll be downscaling and starting over. Abandoning all of it is just irresponsible."

Yulier chimed in. "We will start by distributing the assets that the Army accumulated not only to the remaining members, but also the residents of this first floor. It's the right thing to do since we caused all this trouble until now…" She turned her attention to Sasha. "Sasha-san, we sincerely apologize."

Sasha shook her head. "It's okay, Yulier-san. We know that there are two types of Army players. The good people in the Army helped us immensely."

"Thank you." Yulier nodded before turning her attention back to Asuna. "That aside...the little one from yesterday, Yui-chan...how has she been?"

Kirito and Asuna looked at each other before they smiled. "Yui-chan...has returned home…" Asuna replied.

I glanced at Asuna. A necklace was hanging from her neck. At the tip of its chains was a teardrop-shaped jewel.

That jewel was Yui.

Yesterday, a few seconds after Yui disappeared, Kirito screamed in frustration and accessed the GM console himself. He typed a string of commands and a progress bar appeared. The bar was filled mere seconds before the console lit up and repelled Kirito.

When we came forward to check up on Kirito, he handed the jewel to Asuna. He explained that he was able to convert Yui into an object. Yui's source program - her heart and soul - successfully avoided deletion. He even saved this object into his NerveGear, so Yui still lives even after we complete this death game.

So despite what happened, everything turned up well.

But for me, that wasn't enough.

I kept quiet about this, but I really felt like someone has to pay for what happened.

Not just for this incident, but for the numerous things that happened over the course of this game.

Bullheadedness that resulted in a rift between beta testers, forcing Kirito to take the fall.

Incompetence in leadership that resulted in a lot of dead people.

Blatant exploitation of the weak.

Insatiable greed.

And finally, attempted murder.

He had gotten away with being a detriment to the whole clearing effort for far too long. He had done more damage than even the Laughing Coffin. And worst of all, he might be delusional enough to do it all over again.

And judging by the message that Wilhelm sent me, we were thinking the same thing. Despite having a pleasant personality, the old guy's got a bit of a vindictive streak in him. He's got something planned, and I'm more than happy to help.

Yes, it was technically thanks to him that Yui was saved. Kirito and Asuna would find nothing about Yui's origins so they would just go back to their home. From there, a couple of things would happen. Either the Cardinal would eventually find her and delete her for interacting with players, or SAO would be cleared and Yui would remain trapped in this death game. More than that, I am not blind to his numerous contributions to the front lines.

But thanking this bag of meat for that is like thanking a war for turning you into a self-sufficient person by killing your friends and family along with hundreds of others.

It's time to tie some loose ends.

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A/N: Nothing specific to say about this chapter except for one little thing - I felt that Riwet was nothing more than a tag-along. Granted, I used this as an opportunity to build on the next chapter and expand on his character more. Regardless, I am satisfied by this chapter.

Thank you very much, and have a good one.


	28. CH 26 - Dirty Deeds

_Quick announcement: I totally forgot to write this, but during Riwet's birthday (Chapter 24) Silica gave Riwet a pendant. Same design as the one Riwet gave her on her birthday, but the color resembles Pina's color. I edited the chapter a while back to reflect that._

Chapter 26 - Dirty Deeds

 _November 2, 2024_

Wilhelm was having such a nice day. So much so that he couldn't stop smiling in glee.

Kibaou was still out there, and Wilhelm betted that the bastard was going to make a move sooner or later. He consulted with Thinker about this, and while the guild leader was reluctant, in the end, he agreed on letting Wilhelm hire some people to capture him.

Finally. After a very long time of seeing the guild he cared about to be run into the ground, he was given the opportunity for payback. And in true Kibaou fashion, while the former guild leader's contributions were appreciated, he was to be removed from the equation, just like what Kibaou did to hundreds of others he deemed to be no longer of use to him.

The only caveat was that Wilhelm could not personally participate. It was due to a multitude of reasons. Firstly, KoB has been making significant progress on the front lines alongside the clearing effort. His leadership and skill set was needed now more than ever. Also, Kibaou had made a lot of enemies, so they weren't short of outside help.

In the end, it didn't matter much. He still felt glad that Kibaou would get what was coming to him.

He heard knocking from behind the door. "Come in." He said.

A lone player entered the room. "Good afternoon, Mr. Wilhelm." He greeted him in English.

Speaking of the devil, the last recruit had arrived. "Good afternoon. Thank you for coming at such a short notice, Randall." Wilhelm greeted back.

The player tilted his head. "...Randall?"

"Yeah, Randall. That's your name, right?"

"Uhh...no?"

"Oh! Sorry about that, Ritchell. I totally forgot."

"That's...still not right. The name's Riwet, remember?"

"Oh yeah! Yeah, Riwet! That's your name." He said in a whimsical tone.

"That's right…"

"..."

"..."

"...so…"

"Yes?"

"Why are you here again?"

"..." Riwet just blandly stared at him.

"...heh. Heheh." Wilhelm started chuckling. "I forgot how fun it was doing that."

"Really? It's fun to act like you're senile?"

"Yeah."

"Well, whatever floats your boat, I guess…" Riwet shrugged.

Wilhelm took a quick moment to look at Riwet. It was the same old player that he came to respect. As always, he exuded a polite and patient exterior - an uncommon sight and a breath of fresh air compared to the multitude of brash and hot-headed players around Riwet's age range.

However, Wilhelm sensed something unusual from Riwet today. It seemed like there was something eating at him...

In any case, Wilhelm's had his fill of small talk. "So, how about we go on with discussing our plans for today?"

Riwet smiled. "It would be my pleasure."

Meanwhile, outside Wilhelm's office and down the hall, four people stood in wait.

"What's taking them so long?" The first person grunted. She had her arms crossed and she was furiously tapping her foot. She wore a dark green shirt, black pants, and a pair of black shoes. Her chest, elbows, and knees were covered by small metal armor. A short sword hung from her waist. Her long hair was neatly tied in a single braid.

"Calm down, Abel." The second person replied. He wore brown clothing, and his chest and whole lower body were protected by thick plate armor. His muscular shoulders and arms were left unprotected by armor, lending a sense of grit to him that was further compounded by his short but unkempt hairstyle and a five-o'clock shadow. "You're gonna ruin our first impression."

"Calm down? Every minute that we waste here, we're giving Kibaou time to get away. I'm not as interested in that new guy as you are, Kurohito-san." Abel sighed before she turned her attention to the third person present. "Ayame, any idea who that person is?"

The third person adjusted her glasses. "Riwet The Cobalt. Current level: most likely 93. Clearer. Solo Player, but often hunts with KoB and one of its affiliates: The Moonlit Black Cats. Left-handed. Weapon of choice is glaives, knives, and unarmed combat. Has attended every single Floor Boss battle to this date. Numerous contributions and achievements." She paused and took a deep breath. "My info network declares him to be extremely effective. And my info is never wrong." Ayame was wearing a full-body cloth and leather armor. Her hooded cloak was pulled back, revealing her face. Her medium-length hair was tied in a loose plait.

The fourth person spoke up. "Don't worry. I've personally seen him fight. We'll have no problems working with him." He wore dark green clothing under a set of medium armor that protected a fair portion of his body. He had short, spiky hair that complemented by his round face.

Abel scoffed. "We'll see about that, Iori."

After a few seconds, the player finally left Willhelm's office and went to the group. "Good afternoon. I'm Riwet. It's nice to meet you."

Abel checked him out. He didn't look anything special. He wore blue clothing under his armor and a hooded jacket over that. His hair was neatly combed to the side. He looked about the same age as her, Ayame, and Iori, and about half Kurohito's age.

She suppressed an urge to squint at him. It was their first time interacting with a Clearer - someone who was supposedly far stronger than her group.

"Nice to meet you." She replied cautiously. He didn't seem to be as powerful as Ayame said that he was. Well, whatever. She'll tolerate him as long as he doesn't get in the way.

Ayame bowed. "It's nice to meet you." She eyed him intently. For her, there was no doubt that he was a Clearer. His equipment might look simple, but they were made out of extremely high-level material.

It was her big break. Up till now, her clients included mid-level players and guilds. If she could add him to her client base, her opportunities would certainly increase.

Kurohito held his hand out. "Nice to meet you." Riwet reached out and they shook hands.

Kurohito was confused. Riwet seemed normal. Nothing about him really stood out.

And yet, he couldn't shake off this feeling that there was something underneath the seemingly normal exterior.

Well, whatever it was, he'll find out soon enough.

"Alright, everyone is here. Let's head out." Iori ordered.

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"So, this is the place, huh?" Abel looked at the horizon of the 60th Floor. A lone mountain stood in the distance, with a dense forest littering its base.

Ayame adjusted her glasses. "That particular mountain looks normal enough, but it has a spacious interconnected cavern system insider. There are also no monsters inside, making it a good place to build a secret base. However, the inside wasn't a safe zone, and it's also an Anti-Crystal Area. "

"When Kibaou was expelled from the ALS, dozens of information brokers swooped in and offered to sniff him out. It didn't take long before he was found." Riwet commented.

Ayame nodded. "It's not very hard to encourage info brokers to look into the Army. At some point in time, the guild has used our services for free, ranging from promising 'exposure' instead of payment to straight up intimidation and blackmail."

"Then the time for retribution is now." Abel grinned.

Compared to their group's level, Kibaou's faction would surely lose to them. Thing is, Kibaou's faction were all still green players. To effectively capture them, they need players who were willing to temporarily become orange players.

Abel didn't care. Kibaou took someone away from her. Now, she's going to take everything away from him.

Ayame didn't really hold anything against Kibaou. Sure, she had been duped once or twice, but she just dusted herself off and ventured into other more profitable opportunities. However, she owed Abel a great favor - a favor that she felt needed to be repaid by action. She knew how much this meant for Abel, and she made sure to do right by her.

Kurohito was in it for the glory. He would be known as the stalwart warrior who helped capture the infamous Kibaou. Having to live with an orange cursor for a short while was nothing to him.

Iori, like everybody else in the Army who wasn't in Kibaou's circle, had a score to settle with the former guild leader. He was fortunate enough to be part of the team that would finally take Kibaou down. Of course, he'll practice restraint and capture them in the most humane way possible.

That just left one person. "Hey, Riwet-san. A bit late to ask, but you're okay with losing your green cursor, right?" Iori said.

"Yeah. It's only for a bit, so it's not that bad."

"That's good to know. It's a last resort after all, so I hope things won't devolve into that."

Riwet smirked. "Oh, I just had a word with Wilhelm-san about that. The new rules are as follows: lethal force _is_ the last resort. _Anything_ and _everything_ else is fair game."

The four were taken aback. "...you convinced Wilhelm-san to allow that?"

"Didn't need much convincing. The old guy's nice and all, but he's got a bit of a vindictive streak. Everyone's got their limits. Besides, you guys realize that those bastards have done and will do worse, yes?"

Abel unconsciously smiled. She wasn't quite sure of this Clearer at first, but she was starting to like how he thinks. "You're absolutely right. Let's sift through what the info brokers got for us, and plan accordingly. We'll strike by nightfall."

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Kibaou was having a good day. Yes, in spite of all the crap that happened to him, he was having a good day.

He got out of that mess without any major hits to his personal funds. He still had a following. He still had power.

His recovery and ascension was only a matter of time.

He would start over. He would gather up those who were still loyal to him, and they would grow and grow in power. Soon, he would take back his rightful place. Soon, he would bring down those who wronged him.

It was only a matter of time.

A player entered his office. "Kibaou-sama, preparations are complete."

Kibaou stood up. "Right. Let's get this show on the road." He grouped up with ten of his subjects and headed out for some night hunting.

He had been participating in numerous excursions to add to the funds. Normally, he would just let others accumulate Cor for him, but beggars couldn't be choosers.

Their usual place was the forest area surrounding their hideout. The monsters inhabiting it gave good rewards in relation to the effort needed to take them down.

The hunt started well enough. Kibaou and his group took down the monsters as efficiently as they could. However, something was slightly off. The weaker monsters weren't spawning as frequently as usual. As such, they were spending more time and effort for less reward. It was already nearing midnight and his troops were already exhausted, but they far from done.

Way to have your evening ruined.

"Kibaou-sama, we're still far from meeting our daily quota. However, the troops are exhausted, and we're out of time."

Kibaou clicked his tongue. "We'll extend the hunt until we meet our quota."

"But…"

Kibaou greeted his teeth. "Do you think you're the only ones that are tired? You don't hear me bitching about it. Get them ready, or else."

"...yes, Kibaou-sama."

Kibaou scoffed and clicked his tongue. No more compromises. They were going to get this done, and they were finishing this tonight.

They marched on, venturing further into the forest area,

Eventually, after a grueling hour of combat, they finally met their quota for the night. All his subordinates were dead tired. Kibaou might have worked them to the bone, but he does appreciate their loyalty and hard work. "Alright! We've reached our goal for tonight! Great work! It's only a matter of time before we rise to the top again! Let's head back for now!" He ordered and started walking back to their base.

His assistant quickly called out to him. "Kibaou-sama! One of us were separated! He's still nearby, but…"

"Well, let's get him and _then_ get out of here!" Kibaou shouted. All of them actively used Scanning. They found their man nearby. He was sat down with his back to a tree. The group walked closer to him. "Hey, you!"

"..." The player didn't respond.

"Hey! I'm talking to you-"

All of a sudden, a knife flew from the distance and stabbed Kibaou in the gut. The startled leader held the knife and tried to pry it out, but he quickly felt numb. His legs gave away and he fell. As he laid there, he noticed that the knife was coated with a thin lining of green liquid.

Two more poisoned knives flew and hit one player each, both of them also quickly losing control of their bodies.

The remaining players drew their swords out. "What's happening?!"

"You're surrounded. Nobody move or all of you are gonna be dead." A voice came out from the shadows. When the players didn't move, four hooded figures slowly came closer to them.

The players who remained standing immediately pointed their swords toward the bandits. Before anyone could react further, one of the hooded ones - the one with the orange cursor - shot towards Kibaou. He brandished his glaive in front of Kibaou's fallen body. "Tell them to stand down." He pushed his glaive closer. " _Now._ "

"Alright, alright!" Kibaou shouted. "Everybody lower your weapons. It's over." He ordered to his men before he turned to the hooded criminal. "There! Happy?!"

"Oh, you have no idea…" Kibaou could hear the satisfaction in the player's voice. What a despicable freak.

Abel grinned from behind her hood. She really misjudged Riwet. The guy didn't even hesitate in throwing away his green cursor by disabling and using a player as bait and throwing poisoned knives at Kibaou's group.

Riwet held out a Corridor Crystal. "Corridor Open." The crystal in his hands shattered, and a portal manifested nearby. "Destination's set to the Black Iron Castle prison area. Home sweet home. All of you have two options. Option 1 - you can voluntarily walk in the portal and answer for all the things you did. Option 2 - you can try to run. I'm out of poisoned knives, so we'll have to do it the fun way-I mean, the hard way. We'll hunt you down, disarm you...literally...and throw you down the portal." He sighed and scratched his forehead. "So, what's it gonna be?"

Obviously, the former Army members dropped their weapons and raised their hands. They slowly walked towards the portal. The two players who were immobilized by the knife plus the one who was used as bait were carried and taken to the portal.

When Kibaou's second-in-command approached Kibaou and tried to pick him up, Riwet stopped him. "We still have business with him. Move along." He said. The second-in-command knew that he was in no place to argue, and so he just silently obeyed and entered the portal.

The only ones left in the area were the group of four and Kibaou.

Iori stepped toward. "I don't know what other business you have, but you shouldn't take too long." He advised. Corridor Crystals only last for a maximum of 10 minutes. The one who used them could also close them prematurely.

"Don't worry, I-san. I've got a spare Crystal. Also, this really shouldn't take long." Riwet turned towards Abel. "So, A-san, wanna kill him, or not?" He asked, using the codenames that they created.

"Wh-what?" Abel asked him.

"WHAT ARE YOU SA-" Kibaou started to scream.

Riwet turned to Kibaou. " **Shut the fuck up before I break your jaw.** " He snarled.

"R-san," Iori called out, "This isn't part of the plan. We need him alive."

"Do we?" He replied. The malice in his voice was nowhere to be heard. He turned his attention back to Abel. "In all honesty, this bastard hasn't done enough to me directly to want to call for his death. But you're a different case, aren't you? I know what Kibaou did to the person close to you, and if I'm in your situation, he'd already been dead ten times over." He paused for a bit. "I'll ask again. You wanna kill him, or not?"

Abel was stunned silent. Until now, every fiber of her being wanted to make this bastard pay. Because of his reckless decision, her beloved was killed by the 25th Floor Boss. She heard the gruesome detail straight from one of the Clearers. He was pressed down by the monster's fist and crushed and twisted like a piece of garlic under a mortar and pestle.

Ever since that day, she had been training non-stop to get back at the one responsible. It took her beloved's death to finally snap her out of hiding in the Starting City. Every bit of damage she took, every bit of EXP she obtained was for this moment.

"A, let's take a minute to think this through, okay?" Rico chimed in. It didn't seem to have much effect on Abel as she just silently stared at Kibaou, contemplating. Iori looked at Ayame and Kurohito. "K-san, E, don't just stand there! Help me convince her!"

Ayame shook her head and looked away. "It's her decision to make."

Kurohito shrugged. "What she said."

"Seriously? Am I the only one not okay with this?" Iori looked at Abel. "Killing him won't bring him back."

Riwet tilted his head. "And leaving him alive will?" He sighed. "I'd be lying if I said that this isn't about revenge. But it's more than that. Time and time again, he had proven himself to be a liability to anyone and everyone under his command. Sure, he can't hurt anybody when he's in jail, it's hardly a punishment for what he had done."

Abel gritted her teeth. It would've been easy enough. A quick flick of the wrist was all that had to do. The thing that she had wanted to for so long was literally in front of her.

But in the end, she couldn't do it.

Abel sighed and sheathed her sword. "I'd lying if I said that I didn't want to kill him. But I want nothing more to do with him. I don't need his blood on my hands to weigh my conscience. It's what he would've wanted. Let this bastard rot in jail."

"You're a better person than me. Don't worry. He'll be stuck behind bars for a _very long time._ " Riwet commented before he turned to Kibaou. "Congratulations. You get to live." His voice darkened. "For your sake, I'd advise stirring the pot any further. I'm sure that you know this, but there are much more people out there who's a lot less merciful. Prison's the safest place to be for someone like you."

And with that, they threw Kibaou down the Portal.

Abel let out a breath that she didn't know she was holding. "So, what now?" She asked.

Kurohito stretched his limbs. "I'll go ahead and rest. It's only a matter of time before you'll need help cleaning out other Ex-Army members."

Iori spoke up. "I'll report what happened to Wilhelm-san."

Riwet dusted himself off. "Don't leave out any details...as for me, I'll be in hiding until my cursor goes back to green." He turned his attention towards Ayame. "Ayame-san, great job in sifting through the available data and predicting their hunting pattern."

Ayame adjusted her glasses and smiled. "Thank you, Riwet-san. So, about my offer..."

Riwet shot her a friend request. After she accepted, he opened his Messaging window and started typing. "While I already have an information broker to suit my needs, she said that she needed another pair of hands. You seem capable enough. Interested?"

"May I ask who this broker is?"

"Argo the Rat."

"I accept." She nodded immediately. Every single information broker knew the legendary Argo. It might not be what she was aiming for originally, but she'd be a fool to refuse.

Riwet nodded back and sent his message. "There. I sent a referral message to Argo. She's a demanding taskmaster, but she rewards hard work and good teamwork skills. Good luck." He then looked at the group. "You guys are a bunch of interesting people. I hope we could meet again, under...move favorable circumstances. I'll take my leave." He bid them farewell as he disappeared into the shadows of the forest.

"Let's get out of this place." Iori suggested. The others nodded and they started making their way out of the forest.

"So, did Riwet-san meet your expectations, Kurohito-san?" Ayame asked.

Kurohito grinned. "Oh, absolutely. He efficiently tore those weak monsters apart and effectively took down Kibaou. He was thorough and consummate, but also deliciously vindictive."

Iori chimed in. "I wouldn't quite call him morally lacking, but he seemed awfully eager to tear Kibaou apart."

"With good reason. I agree with Riwet. That bastard deserved what was coming for him."

"In any case, I can't help but feel wary of him. He's too unscrupulous for me."

"It's your loss. I look forward to working with him again."

As the group conversed, Abel remained silent and reflected on her actions. _Did I do the right thing?_ She thought to herself. She could think of dozens of reasons to justify whether it was right to spare him or if she should've killed him. The bastard deserved to die. Killing is morally reprehensible. He could just escape. Then she'll capture him again.

She shook her head to clear her thoughts. He had already made her choice. She chose what she thought would be the best choice, and she'll just have to live with it.

While she was uncertain of her decision, she felt a sense of closure. The person responsible for Ryo's death has been brought to justice. Try as he might, Kibaou can't hurt anyone anymore.

 _And if he dared to escape and cause more havoc, then enough is enough_. She decided.

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A/N: Another one done. I like this chapter because it gives a new perspective on Riwet. It's the sort of thing that Riwet usually would try to hide from other people, especially from people close to him.

God, it's shaping up to be a _very_ busy year for me. I'll do my best to update regularly, but yeah. 35-40 days.I really want to increase the pace, but the real world demands my attention. It sucks…

Anyway, that's all for now. Thank you very much, and have a good one.


	29. CH 27 - Crashing Into Hello

Chapter 27 - Crashing Into Hello

 _November 3, 2024_

"Haaahh…" I yawned, absently staring at the night sky as I sat on the ground and leaned my back towards a tree. "Hurry up and turn to green already…"

Orange cursors would change back to green after a few hours for the first three infractions. The consensus for 'a few hours' was four to six hours. I was on hour 5.

Ever since I broke away from the group, I've resolved to wait for my cursor to go back to green and avoid players until that time. Players with orange cursors weren't treated kindly by both NPC city guards and players - as they should be.

I found myself at one of the forest areas existing on the 11th Floor. There was nothing much to see here, other than the fact that this place was where Silica claimed that she encountered and befriended Pina. Which was strange because Feathered Little Dragons don't usually spawn here.

This was one of the Floors that was quickly cleared during Power Play, so it wasn't really researched well since the top scouts and info brokers quickly moved on to the front lines. Even so, scouts skimmed this Floor after Power Play ended, and found basically nothing noteworthy. No super-secret areas with good rewards, but also no major traps that beginners could fall into.

I figured that, since I'm not doing much anyways, I'd take a look at it.

And I really didn't find anything. Silica was sure that this was the place where she met Pina, but there was nothing there. Just your standard forest area. There weren't even any monsters nearby. A lot of people went into this area in hopes of taming a Feathered Little Dragon for themselves, to no avail. Most, if not all of them, already gave up.

I stood up and dusted myself off. I guess I'll go around some more until my cursor reverts. Well, I could just lie down and rest, but then I'll having nothing to do but think.

And at least for now, I just want a distraction.

During my musings, I heard a sound nearby - like something heavy just fell. I stood still and activated Scanning. No monsters or traps in the area. I quickly but cautiously walked towards the source of the sound.

I saw a large stone that was overturned. It wasn't a natural stone to this area - the stone was dark blue, and it resembled a small pyramid that was narrow but tall. It had an engraving on it that looked vaguely like a sword pointing downward.

I took a picture of the stone and picked up one of its pieces. It was about the size of my closed fist. The item was named HolArea_TrnsprtConsoleFrg.

A glitched item, huh? It's the first time I ever saw something like that. What does it mean? The latter part meant Transport Console Fragment. Which meant that this whole stone pillar was a Transport Console. Transport Consoles weren't an uncommon sight since they basically act as shortcuts between areas.

But most Transport Consoles looked like a floating crystal with a ring orbiting it. Also, I'm not sure where its end destination was. Hol Area? Like, Holding Area? Hmm...

As I was musing on this, I received a notification that my orange cursor would turn back to green shortly. Good timing. I'll keep this item for now and ask other players about it.

Out of nowhere, I was assaulted by a high-pitched sound and engulfed in sphere of ones and zeroes before it manifested into a blue light. The glitched item that should be in my inventory reappeared in my hand and glowed brightly.

Before I could even react, the transportation sequence was over. And instead of arriving at Aurelia's Teleport Gate, I was in the middle of yet another forest - one that had much bigger trees than the one I was just in.

Then all of a sudden, a player crashed into me.

What is happening here?

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Changing Perspective: Third person  
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Silica silently hummed to herself as she walked the streets of one of Aincrad's numerous cities. A few months ago, she found out about a shop that sold Pina's favorite nuts with a nice discount for the first pound purchased. The first pound of nuts only cost 4 and the discount refreshed after two days. The store owner was also very enthusiastic and often gave Silica a complimentary cup of potato fries.

She opened her Player Menu and checked her inventory. She suppressed a sigh once she realized that she had once again bought too many nuts. In addition to what she had stockpiled at home, she could comfortably feed Pina for the next year.

She wondered whether she should message Riwet and ask if he was well. A few days ago, he was finally called by Willhelm. And yesterday, he just said that he'll most likely have an orange cursor and would go into hiding until it reverted.

In addition to doing the dirty work, she could see that he was deep in thought about something. He had this habit of bottling up whatever that was bothering him.

She resolved to just leave him be for now. Riwet had guided her until she was strong enough to become a Clearer. And even though he tends to keep to himself, over the months she had known him he had become more open to her, talking about things that interest him instead of just making superfluous small talk. He'll come to her soon enough.

However, as soon as she closed her Player Menu and looked at the street, she realized that the scene around her had changed immensely. She was no longer standing in a busy street under the bright, morning sun.

She was inside the building that housed the Monument of Life. The windows radiated nothing but darkness. The only light source was the monument itself, with the alive player's names glowing a soft, blue color.

RIwet's name was one of the many who wasn't glowing. Instead, it was greyed out, with two horizontal lines running along the letters of his name.

"No…" Silica couldn't move. She tried to breathe, but she felt like something was caught in her throat. "This couldn't...no…"

Everything blurred and turned to black, except for Riwet's crossed-out name. Then, the lines crossing out Riwet's name started to bleed.

"No...no...NOOOOOOOO!"

The scene instantly faded as Silica bolted up from her bed. "GAH! Haah..haah…"

"Kyururu!" Pina was looking at her worriedly.

Silica cradled her head in her hands. Her shaking body was caked in sweat. She took a second to breathe, calm down, and sort out her thoughts. _It was a nightmare. A bad dream. Calm down…Calm down..._

But at this moment, she knew that what she wanted was more than just to calm down.

Not even bothering to go to the Teleport Gate, she took out a Teleport Crystal and raised it. "TELEPORT! TOWN OF BEGINNINGS!" She shouted. A blue light engulfed her, and she was quickly transported to the 1st Floor.

She barrelled down the street at full sprint and headed to the Monument of Life. She reached the building within seconds, bursting through the building's doors.

She crouched and panted hard as she caught her breath. After a few moments, she slowly straightened up and searched for Riwet's name.

It wasn't crossed out.

Her crushing anxiety was replaced by overwhelming relief. "Thank goodness...thank goodness…" Her shaking legs buckled, and she sat on the floor.

"Kyururu…" Pina perched on Silica's shoulder and started nuzzling her in an attempt to calm her down. Now that her worries were gone, she took a series of deep breaths. After a minute, her breathing normalized, and she picked herself up and dusted herself off.

She quickly opened her Player Menu, checking her contacts to find Riwet's location. When two players are registered as Friends, they could turn Location Tracking on. Both players would have to agree on turning it on. Either it was on for both players, or it was off for both of them. It was a sign that you placed your utmost trust in the other player.

Location Tracking had its limitations. Firstly, many areas and dungeons interfered with Location Tracking, and the location would just show as Unavailable.

As far as Silica knew, Riwet had turned his Location tracking on for Silica, Kirito, and Asuna. However, It was the first time that Silica saw the words ERROR displayed in the Current Location.

Was her Player Menu bugged?

Or maybe, it was Riwet that encountered that encountered the bug. What if he was trapped in some sort of error, waiting for someone to help him...

Now she was really beginning to get worried.

She wanted to find him. However, she was at a loss as to where to start. Riwet said to her that he was going into hiding. Solo Players who knew what they were doing don't leave much of a trail. She wondered how much Argo could help her in this regard...

As she was weighing her options, she heard a voice from behind her. "...Silica-chan?"

She turned around and two familiar figures - a man clothed in jet black, and a woman clothed in white and red.

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A female player darted through a thick forest, her dandelion-colored hair swaying in tune with her motions.

Once she thought that she was far enough from danger, Philia took a deep breath and was about to slow down…

When suddenly, a player teleported right in front of her. Caught off guard, she was too late to change direction. She collided hard with the player and was knocked back.

Philia recovered and saw that the player had an orange cursor. _One of them._

She charged once again, drawing out her knife and swinging it towards the player. The player saw her moving and drew out his own weapon - a one-handed glaive. Sparks flew as the female player's jagged dagger made contact with the other player's glaive.

" _Who are you?_ " She growled.

"I'm just a solo player minding my own business. I've no business with you. Please stand down." He replied. He was acting too calm for someone who was facing an orange player. He was definitely one of them. If she didn't take care of him now, he'll come for her.

Just like last time...

Had she stopped and thought it through, she might have even considered his words. But her long, involuntary tenure into this godforsaken place was already halfway through breaking her mind. In her startled and exhausted state, Philia resolved to disable this player - make sure that he was not capable of pursuing her. All she wanted was to everyone around her to leave her alone.

Philia unleashed a flurry of blows, all of which were rendered ineffective by her enemy. But still, she struck and stabbed and slashed. The enemy just kept on blocking her assault.

With a desperate, primal shout, Philia used all her strength into one final stab, hoping that it would work.

And indeed, it did work.

Her knife directly hit the player, the whole blade tearing into his torso. The glaive wielder froze in place, silently looking down at the knife.

However, Philia took another look at his cursor.

It was green.

Philia gasped. "Oh no…not again..." She let go of her knife and cradled her head. _It was orange! I saw that it was orange! I saw…! I...saw..._ She thought. She just wanted to get away. Her carelessness once again got the better of her.

Was it karma? Did she mistake his cursor color? Even if she didn't, he said that he had no business with her. She should have just believed him. She shouldn't have attacked him. She should've just ran. She should've just...

Philia was too shaken to realize that the glaive-wielder was still alive until his closed fist hit her square in the jaw. She spun around before she fell face-first to the ground. She tried to pick herself up, but she was only able to roll herself over as dark spots invaded her vision.

The last thing she saw before she fully lost consciousness was the player looming over her, looking at her with an indifferent demeanor.

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Changing Perspective: Riwet  
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Alright. So, if I may recap. Within a span of 12 hours, I turned into a criminal by poisoning a couple of dudes, and I almost goaded someone to kill. Immediately after my cursor became normal, I found myself punching a girl in the face. I'm a bit of a bastard, huh?

I dragged her to the side and propped her to a tree. I sat nearby and leaned myself against a tree as well, trying to make sense of what happened and trying to message someone or use Teleport Crystals. They were disabled. I can't leave this place because a monster might discover her. I guess I should just rest up for now and wait for her to wake up.

I looked at her. She had a striking dandelion hair and was wearing a blue coat over her clothes and only had a couple of pieces of armor here and there. I'm a fan of her choice of color, but not her revealing clothing. I know that she had minimal armor on to maximize her speedy playstyle, but a tube top and short shorts? Pretty bold fashion choice. Clothing was light enough that it would not affect your speed.

Her breathing was steady, and her jaw was okay. I used a Healing Crystal on her, so her HP should be okay. She seemed to be exhausted. Physical symptoms of stress, like eye bags and red eyes, don't really show on characters, but her attacks were weak and sluggish.

Well, that's enough of that. I looked away and closed my eyes, trying to get as much rest as I could while still being aware of my surroundings.

After about an hour, I heard a sound coming from the girl. "Nn... " She mumbled and slowly opened her eyes.

"Finally awake?" I asked.

It took a moment for the girl to comprehend what was happening, but when she finally did, she quickly jumped back and drew her knife, glaring daggers at me.

I sighed. What a rude young lady. Even though I took the effort to watch over her. Hell, I even sheathed her Knife for her. "We've been through this song and dance before. Why don't we keep things civil?" I asked.

"..." She remained tense and silent.

I pursed my lips. "Yes, you didn't mix it up. I was an orange player. The cursor penalty duration ran out as soon as you stabbed me. Some bastard was evading arrest by hiding under a green cursor. _Someone_ had to do the dirty work. I know I can't prove it, but that's how it is."

"...you're not one of them?" She asked, her tone more inquisitive this time.

I tilted my head. "...who's them?"

"…" She paused and changed the subject. "You can see my cursor, yes?"

"Yeah. It's orange."

"Doesn't that mean anything to you? How can you be so casual around me?"

"Like in my case, cursor colors only tell part of the story."

"But as for me, it tells enough of the story...I got my cursor orange because I killed someone." She eyed me evenly.

"..." I paused and looked at her for a moment before I looked away. "...because of self-defense, yes?"

"...what?"

"It happened too fast. You were only trying to defend yourself. Unfortunately-or fortunately, depending on how you look at it- your natural sense of self-preservation took over and you unleashed a desperate attack that you hoped would stop them. However, your attack was a little too effective."

"...how can you be so sure?"

"...a couple of things." I yawned. "Sorry. Anyways, the first is that you muttered 'oh no, not again' when you hit me square in the torso. Also, side note, I intentionally let you hit me to startle you. Sorry for any mental and...jaw damage that I incurred."

"..."

"Alright, moving on. Second is that I've met my share of true red players, and they're nothing like you, so rest assured." I paused. "I don't know what you're referring to as 'them' but as long as you don't try to hurt me, I won't try to hurt you. All I want is some questions answered, and after that, we can go our separate ways."

She slowly lowered her weapon. "Alright..."

"Let's start with names." I stood up and faced her. "My name's Riwet."

"...Philia…"

I bowed slightly. "It's nice to meet you, Philia-san."

"...likewise…" She replied. She probably didn't mean that.

"So, where are we? My Player Menu says we're in the Selvendys Sea of Trees. There's no Floor Number, either. It says 'Hollow Area' instead of the Floor Number. There are tons of forest areas in SAO, but I don't recall ever going to this one. I tried using Teleport and Corridor crystals but they don't work. Also, messaging doesn't work, either."

Philia shook her head. "I don't really know where we are. I got thrown in here a month ago…"

"A month? You've been stuck in here for a month?"

She nodded. "Yes."

"Did you at least find a safe zone?"

She shook her head.

"That must've been rough on you."

"I've gotten used to hiding and running away. The monsters here are dangerous."

"I see…hmm...oh yeah." I took out the Transport Console Fragment and showed it to her. "Have you seen something like this?"

Philia immediately came closer and inspected the item. "Where did you find this?" She asked.

I explained everything that happened to me before I was transported here. "Did the same thing happen to you?"

"No. I was just walking around when I was suddenly teleported…anyway, yes, I recognize that symbol."

"Really? Then, can you show me where? If you don't want to, you can just point where I should go and be on your way."

Philia sighed and looked at the horizon. After a few moments, she nodded and looked back at me. "I guess I don't mind taking you there. I have no other leads aside from this."

I bowed slightly. "Thank you very much."

"I still think you're making a mistake, trusting a criminal so easily…"

"Don't get me wrong. I'm still exercising a healthy amount of caution in case you turn out to be a megalomaniacal hoodlum who mastered feigning body language." I quipped.

"...heh…" She chuckled lightly, showing a slight smile before it quickly reverted back to a thin, serious line. "I'll lead the way. Let's move." She turned around and started walking.

"Understood." I nodded and followed her.

Seems like I've been thrown into something pretty troublesome. Well, whatever. It'll make for a good distraction.

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Loading...Complete  
Changing Perspective: Third Person  
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"Ha…!" Riwet charged forward and brought his glaive downward, hitting the monster's shied. Philia charged to the monster's side and directly hit it with her Knife before she jumped away.

They were fighting an Orc Crusher - a silver-skinned orc carrying a shield on its left hand and a large battleaxe on its right. It was wearing thick armor that protected its torso and head but kept its muscular arms and legs unarmored.

The monster retaliated by raising its axe and bringing it down to Riwet. Riwet clenched his teeth and blocked the attack. "Now!" He shouted. Philia darted in once again and did some damage to the monster. When the monster changed targets and swung at her, Philia just jumped back. The attack left an opening for Riwet to get in and deal more damage.

Its attacks were damaging and surprisingly quick, but it was predictable and could not handle fighting more than one opponent.

After a few seconds of alternating their assault, Riwet scored a critical hit on the monster's legs. The orc screamed in pain as it kneeled to the ground and tried to recover its footing, leaving it wide open to a damaging assault.

"Let's hit him at the same time!" Philia shouted.

"My thoughts exactly!" Riwet shouted back.

By the time they were done, there was nothing left of the monster.

Philia had to hand it to Riwet. The guy knew how to quickly adapt to the monster's stats and attack patterns. She also observed that he had effective options for offense and defense, which in turn further improved upon his adaptability. He might lose to her in terms of stealth and speed, but he wins at everything else, especially at cunning. What kind of player intentionally allows himself to get stabbed so that their opponent's mental state would break down?

"Phew…" Riwet sighed and dusted himself off. "Great work. You're right - the monsters here are about as strong as the monsters in the 75th Floor Labyrinth."

"Yeah. They're quite tricky to take on. Fortunately, they don't have the biggest aggro range, so it's not really hard to sneak by them. Also, I'm fast enough to outrun the more problematic ones.."

"Well, I'm neither as fast nor as stealthy as you, so I'll have to resort to combat more frequently. Still, I can just stun them before I run away, so there's that."

"I see...let's move, we're about halfway there."

They continued chatting while they walked. "It's good that you're able to survive with all these monsters running around." Riwet said.

"It comes with being a 'Treasure Hunter'." Philia replied.

"...Treasure Hunter, huh…" Riwet parroted. SAO didn't have a Job System, but jobs were used as a shorthand to summarize specific player builds, which in Philia's case, was being able to efficiently find treasures within dungeons. "I don't really see much of your kind from where I'm usually at..."

"I don't care much about fighting monsters and clearing quests. There are a lot of important items crucial to survival that are hidden away. That's why I decided to become a treasure hunter."

"But, being a treasure hunter is risky. Emphasis on speed, stealth, and solo play above general defense, right? I'm a generalist jack-of-all-trades, and even then, fighting solo can be daunting…"

"It's fine. I've already mastered Trap Detection and Scanning."

"Really? Wow, that's impressive."

Philia smiled in response. "Lockpicking and Stealth is my specialty. No matter how strong a monster guarding a chest is, I'm confident that I can sneak past it and lockpick my way through the treasure."

"Now _that_ is really impressive. I'd like to see your skills in action sometime."

"It depends on how long we're going to be together...still, if we get the chance, I'll show you a glimpse of what I can do."

A moment of silence followed before Riwet spoke up again. "So, if you don't mind me asking...who's 'them'?" He asked.

Philia knew that this question was going to come sooner or later. "...we're not the only players here…"

Riwet narrowed his eyes. "Really?"

"Yes, but there's something...strange about them…"

"Strange? How so?"

"I can't...really quite explain…" Philia spotted one of them - a female hammer-and-shield wielder. She had a green cursor, so she must be one of the normal ones. "Here's one right now. Go talk to her. I'll hang back since my orange cursor might freak her out."

"...alright..." Riwet nodded.

The two of them split up. Philia hid behind a tree while Riwet went to the player. Philia observed the interaction from afar.

"Um...hello!" Riwet greeted her.

"Good morning!" The female player greeted back. "Do you need anything?"

"Just a little bit of your time. Did you get thrown in here from Aincrad, as well?"

The female player tilted her head. "Thrown from Aincrad? What are you talking about? We're _in_ Aincrad."

"I guess that's true...so where did you come from? Like, originally?"

"Hmm...I wonder...I keep teleporting all over the place. I couldn't say where I came from originally…"

Philia narrowed her eyes. There it was again. For someone caught in this peculiar situation, _they_ were acting too calm.

"Okay...so, what are you doing here?" Riwet continued.

"What am I doing here? I'm carrying out raids and assaults, of course."

"Do you have a base anywhere? I haven't found any safe zones here..."

"A base…? I don't really remember. Besides, I don't think I should talk about things like that with strangers."

"I guess not…so, you just wanna get out of here, right?"

The female player shook her head. "No, thank you. Sorry, I've run out of time to chat. Stay safe, alright?" She waved at him and started to walk away.

Riwet called out to the female player. "Please wait! I still have to ask you...and she's gone…"

Philia came out of her hiding spot and walked towards Riwet. "See how I mean about them being strange?"

Riwet nodded. "You're right. It was my first time interacting with one, but I could see what you mean. The biggest thing is that they're just going on like this is normal for them. I mean, they're players, but..."

"Let's be careful around them next time since...I've met some hostile ones…" Philia trailed off. "...anyway, let's move. We're almost there."

Riwet paused for a moment to look at her before nodding his head. "Roger that."

They eventually came upon a cliffside, overlooking a lush forest below.

Philia raised her finger and pointed at the horizon. "There's the place I was talking about."

"That big sphere thing?" He asked. It was a spherical object held in place by a pillar of light under it. Its relative size was hard to judge from their location, but it was very large.

"Yes. There's an inactive transport device nearby. It looks like the one you showed me in the picture. My hunch is that it'll transport us to that place once we get it running."

They ventured down the cliff, eventually finding a Transport Console tucked away in a corner. "There it is." They walked closer to it. Philia reached out with her hand and touched the console. There wasn't even a response.

Philia nodded to Riwet. Riwet nodded back and withdrew the Console Fragment. He held it out towards the device.

Almost immediately, the transport console lit up and a System Message appeared. _System credentials accepted. Hollow Area data access restrictions have been lifted._

"I knew it." Philia remarked. "Now, you can definitely enter the sphere, and uncover what is really happening in here...in the Hollow Area."

"Yeah. It's got its fair share of secrets, but I'm more interested in finding a way out first."

"I agree…" Philia paused. "Say...do you mind if I come with you?"

Riwet smiled at her. "Barring our very first encounter, you haven't stabbed me in the back or give me any reason to distrust you, so I don't mind. How long that lasts is entirely up to you." He turned towards the console and accessed it. "Let's go!"

Both of them were covered by a bright light, and they were quickly transported to a different location.

In contrast with the woodland atmosphere of the previous area, the area that they were in was futuristic in design. There was a console with a large display over it. The large display contained several smaller windows inside it, littered with a scrolling string of words, numbers, and symbols. One large window had a picture of Aincrad in it, with numerous arrows pointing to different places in the castle. Others had pie charts and graphs.

The room was round, with no entrances or exits other than the Teleport Gate placed in the middle. The glass walls revealed hundreds of words forming a curved cylinder alongside a vast, empty space, making the room seem much larger than it was.

But it was not the unusual design of the area that caught their attention. Instead, the one that caught their attention the most was the young girl standing in front of them. She was wearing a simple, one-piece blouse and had a ribbon tied around her waist. Her back was towards them.

Riwet took a step back. "...what...?" He gasped.

The girl turned towards them and smiled.

"I'm glad you were able to find this place...onii-chan."

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Chapter End  
*****_

 **A/N:** Thank you for your review, Rodvek97. I'm glad you like it.

Also, thank you for your review, Darkjaden. I think the distinction between Original Characters (OC) and Self-Inserts(SI) are really interesting. In my opinion, all SIs are OCs but not all OCs are SIs. And once again, in my opinion, Riwet is an SI of me. We might have differences here and there, but his ideals, desires, way of viewing life, etc. are the same as mine. The reason why I put 'Self-Insert' in the summary is so that people know what they're getting into. Self Inserts have garnered an unfavorable reputation (with good reason), and there's not really anything to gain by removing that tag.

Alright. So, if you haven't played SAO: HF yet, then I'll issue a Spoiler Alert: This will basically spoil Philia and Strea's storylines.

However, a lot of the HF stuff would have to be redone. In the game, there's a lot of things that happened in the Hollow Area. Things that I would have to cut and rework to fit my planned narrative.

Looking at it one way, it could be seen as nothing more than filler. On the other hand, I could see it as a chance to introduce characters that I like into my fic, and also further flesh out the characters involved.

That's all for now. Thank you very much, and have a good one.


	30. CH 28 - Reunion

Chapter 28 - Reunion

"...ma…"

Asuna stirred and slowly sat up, cradling her head in her hand. She opened her eyes and looked around.

She was in their log cabin on the 22nd Floor. It was still dark outside, with pale moonlight beaming through their bedroom window.

Lying beside her was her beloved Kirito. His chest rose and fell in rhythm with his soft breaths. Asuna reached out with her hand and caressed his cheek before she laid back down and tried to back to sleep.

It wasn't that unusual that she woke up in the dead on the night. It was a common occurrence way back in her early days in living in this death game, with her screaming herself awake after witnessing a horrific nightmare. Those days were long gone ever since Kirito came closer to her life, and she was forever thankful that she met him.

But what was unusual was that for some reason, she felt listless even though Kirito was right beside her...she had this faint feeling like she heard something...

"Ma..a…"

Asuna's eyes widened. She sat up once again and looked down at her necklace. She noticed that it was glowing with a dim light. "What…?"

"...ma…! Mama!…." There was the sound once again. It was quiet and distorted, but she recognized the voice. How could she not?

"Yui...chan?"

"Mama! I...glad you….hea...me…!"

"Yui-chan! What is happening?!" Asuna asked.

"I don…!" Yui's voice started to get even more distorted.

"Yui-chan, You're breaking off! I can't understand what you're saying!"

"...!"

"Yui-chan!"

"...onii-chan…?"

"Eh?" Asuna's necklace stopped glowing. "W-wait, Yui-chan! Yui...chan?" There was no more response.

"Nnn…" Kirito stirred and sat up. "Asuna?"

"Ah! Kirito-kun!" Asuna looked at him and explained what happened.

Kirito's eyebrows furrowed. "Since Yui said something about her 'onii-chan', let's try and contact Riwet...hmm…" Kirito opened his Player Menu Contacts and hovered towards Riwet's name. "...the hell? It says Error on his location and I can't message him."

"What? What's happened to him?" Asuna asked, fearing for the worst.

Kirito shook his head. "I don't know..."

Asuna opened her own Player Menu. "Let me try asking Silica-chan. I'm sure she-" Something caught her eyes, and she immediately stopped.

"What's wrong?"

"...oh no…"

Kirito took a peek at Asuna's Player Menu.

It had Silica's information on it.

However, one single string of words immediately caught his attention.

 _Location: 1st Floor, Monument of Life_

They teleported to the 1st Floor Starting City and ran towards the monument.

"He couldn't have, could he…?" Asuna whispered under her breath, not really believing that Riwet would be careless enough to...yes, he played Solo most of the time, but his stats made him effective and resilient. _That idiot! How many times have I told him not to be reckless?!_

"..." Kirito silently pondered. Accidents happened all the time. It didn't matter if the player was a speedy glass cannon or a walking tank filled with armor. Still, the possibility of one of his close friends just...dying out of nowhere just didn't sit right with him.

They found the monument's doors open. They slowly entered and found two figures slightly illuminated by the dim interior. The first was a female player clothed in a white tunic, sitting on the smooth marble floor. The second was a small dragon perched on the girl's slumped shoulder.

"...Silica-chan?" Asuna called out.

Silica slowly turned around and saw them. "Kirito-san…? Asuna-san…?"

They could see the surprise on Silica's face and feared that it would twist into an expression of grief and despair.

Instead, they saw relief wash over her face.

Silica walked up to them and pointed to Riwet's name in the Monument of Life, his glowing name a definite fact that he was alive.

Kirito and Asuna both let out a breath that they didn't realize that they were holding. The three of them exited the monument and grouped up on a nearby bench.

Silica changed into her hunting attire and explained to Kirito and Asuna what happened on her end. "I don't know if he's trapped somewhere or if he found a way to hide from Location Tracking…I…"

"Kyururu…" Pina rubbed her head on her master's cheeks in an attempt to calm her down.

Asuna lightly placed her hand on Silica's shoulder. "Don't worry, Silica-chan. Riwet-kun will be fine."

"Yeah, and having known the guy, he'll probably just come back soon without any announcement and ask how our day has been while hiding the fact that he just slaughtered a whole area's worth of monsters by himself." Kirito quipped.

"Oh, did you mistake Riwet-kun with what you usually do, Kirito-kun?" Asuna retorted. The group shared a laugh at that.

"Touche…" Kirito sighed and looked at the horizon. "In any case, we're not gonna find him by just sitting around. Let's decide where to start looking."

 _ *****  
Loading...Complete  
Changing Perspective: Riwet  
*****_

No way… "Yui...chan?" I muttered. "Is it...really you?"

Yui looked at me and smiled silently. "Yes. It's me, onii-chan."

Philia spoke up. "Riwet, do you know this girl?"

I took a moment to collect my thoughts before I nodded. "Yes, I do. Long story short, she's an AI."

She looked at me suspiciously. "...AI?"

"Like I said, long story. I'll tell you when we have the time." I looked back at Yui. "Yui-chan, this is Philia."

"...nice to meet you…" Philia looked at Yui and nodded slightly.

Yui turned her head to look at Philia. Philia looked calm at first, but it only lasted for a second before she looked away and crossed her left arm over her right shoulder. It looked like was covering herself from Yui's gaze. Maybe she felt she was being judged.

Yui tilted her head and flashed a disarming smile. "It's nice to meet you, Philia-san."

Philia seemed to respond positively to that - she breathed a slight sigh of relief and smiled back.

I'm glad that they seem to get off on the right foot. "So Yui-chan, do you know where we are, and what's happening?" I asked her.

Yui nodded and turned around, her eyes fixed on the display window."...this place...the Hollow Area...is a place where normal players aren't supposed to be able to access...this is a restricted area for development testing - a place where they test out new features before adding them to the game."

"So this is like a beta server?"

"Correct. Even small, minute changes can have large, and unforeseen consequences when implemented." She turned back and looked at the Teleport Gate behind us. "Aside from that Teleport Gate, this place is completely isolated from Aincrad. An ideal place to test implementations before rolling it out. I haven't been here long, so I need more time to research further."

So _that's_ why there's quite a bit of variety in the monsters that are here. "So, we can get out of here using that Teleport Gate?"

"Yes, but it's not working properly."

"How did you end up here?"

"About half an hour ago, I regained consciousness while I was still in my converted form. I tried to call out to papa and mama, but I was forcefully transported here with a modified version of my original body."

"...modified?"

"Yes. Instead of being an MCCP, I am recognized by Cardinal as a Player. While it restricts me from my MHCP capabilities, it also could not forcibly delete me anymore."

Finally, some good news…I sighed and looked around. "This so-called Hollow Area is a very interesting place, but I'm more concerned about a way out. Can't we do something about the Teleport Gate?'

"I'm sure that I can find something out using this console, but…" She paused. "I'm not...at my best right now…"

I took a moment to look at her face. "Are you alright?"

She nodded. "Yes, but the forced modification strained my systems. I'm fine for the most part, but I need some rest..."

"Well, honestly speaking, all of us need a bit of rest." I was up and running for the good part of the night. I can still continue without issues, but it's best to rest as much as I can. "This is a safe zone right?"

Yui nodded. "One of the very few, if not the only one."

"Alright. Let's take advantage of that and have a proper rest for once."

"Thanks to a certain someone, I actually had a very refreshing nap beforehand." Philia spoke up. "But I could use a bit more rest."

"Heh…alright. Go rest up. I'll explain what I know about Yui afterward."

We ended up taking opposite sides of the room - Philia on one, and Yui and I on the opposite side.

I took out a spare sleeping bag and placed it on the floor for Yui to sleep on. I settled down and leaned my back against the glass wall, placing Caerulus close to my side. I've found that this position made me comfortable enough to rest, but also still kept me alert of my environment. "Go ahead and rest, Yui-chan. I'll watch over you, so you don't have to worry."

Instead of lying down, she hid her arms behind her and she looked uneasy.

"What's wrong?" I asked her.

"U-um...you see...onii-cha-" She was interrupted by a loud rumbling noise coming from her stomach.

I chuckled for a moment. "Yeah, we should go have something to eat." Now that I was thinking about it, I was getting a bit hungry myself.

Fortunately, I've got just the thing.

I handed her a small plate with a slice of pizza in it. The pizza was about the size of my hand, and had Hawaiian toppings on it, with extra bacon. I also handed her a glass filled with iced tea. "Here. This isn't the freshest or healthiest stuff in the world, but it's my comfort food."

"Thank you very much, onii-chan." She smiled and started eating.

I withdrew a plateful of pizza and a mug filled with root beer for myself. While root beer makes a perfect complement to pizza, she might not like it. Iced tea's the safest choice. "So, how is it?"

"It's delicious!" She exclaimed. Ha! take that, pineapple-on-pizza haters.

"Well, I'm glad you like it." I was about to take a swig out of my drink when I noticed that Yui was staring at the flask that I was holding. "You wanna try this?" She nodded. "Here." I withdrew another mug and gave it to her.

She brought the mug closer to her face and smelled the liquid. She took a sip. I half-expected her to frown and dislike it. Instead, she continued on gulping down the root beer. She was halfway done emptying the mug before she pushed it away from her mouth. "Ahhh...*BUUUURP*…*hic*...tasty~..." The look of pure satisfaction on her face made me smile.

"Hey, you got some food bits on your face." I materialized a napkin. "Here. Hold still." I wiped the food bit off her face.

"Thank you, onii-chan!"

"You're quite welcome."

We continued on eating silently. I don't talk much when I eat. Makes me flatulent for some reason.

Hollow Area, huh...very interesting place. It reminded me of the times where I played normal video games and glitch through the level to go to an area that I wasn't supposed to access. Normally, those areas didn't have much in them, but the Hollow Area was proving to be quite plentiful in terms of a distraction.

Unfortunately, in the end, I don't have any more use for a distraction.

Because the reason why I needed a distraction was right in front of me.

"Onii-chan?"

"Yeah?" I cleared my thoughts and raised my head. Yui was looking closely at me. I instinctively looked away.

"Is something bothering you?"

"...what makes you say that?"

"You're naturally a reserved person so it's a bit hard to tell...but...even though we haven't known each other very long...I can tell that something is bothering you…"

"..."

"What is it, onii-chan? I'll be happy to help you."

I took a deep breath. "Okay...the reason why you went to Kirito and Asuna was because you felt happiness and peace, right?"

Yui nodded wordlessly.

I took another deep breath and continued slowly. "Does that mean that...I don't love Silica as much as Kirito loves Asuna?"

My question caught her by surprise. "N-No! That's not it. That's not it at all…"

"Then...why?"

"The reason why I didn't come to you was because...I...I know what you are capable of...and you can be...terrifying..." She looked away for a bit. "I saw the culling of the Laughing Coffin...and it's something that I would not forget, no matter how much I tried."

Now it was my turn to look away. "..." Huh...I thought that I made peace with the fact that I enjoy all the violence...and yet, I couldn't help but feel a bit of shame when another person knew what I am.

…

Well, if I'm being judged right now then I should probably air out all the dirty laundry. "...do you remember that time we went to the underground Dungeon in the 1st Floor?"

"Yes, I do."

"When the Dungeon Boss arrived, he knocked me back and knocked Kirito and Asuna back. I was hobbling my way towards them when you came forward and saved us. Do you remember that?"

She nodded.

"The thought that crossed my mind was this... _I should save the revival item for Kirito and Asuna_." I sighed. "It's one thing to prioritize saving someone I care about instead of a complete stranger, but it's another thing to sacrifice who I thought at the time was an unarmed, mentally traumatized 10-year-old kid...you made a good choice in going to Kirito and Asuna."

"..." Yui looked at me without saying a word. After what felt like forever, she smiled and shook her head." But despite all of that, I'm glad that I met you."

"...really?"

"Yes."

"...why?"

"...I was blinded by my preconceptions about you. When I actually met you, I realized that you are much, much more than what I thought. Yes, you might find enjoyment in causing violence and destruction, but you don't let that control you. You're still capable of sympathy, compassion, love..." She sighed and looked away. "In the end, you're just another normal human being that fell victim to SAO's brutal world…"

I smiled at her. "Thank you for that, Yui-chan." She smiled back. "So, Yui-chan, I got one last question."

"Sure. What is it, onii-chan?"

"Why do you call me 'onii-chan'? Your speech program was fixed, so you can pronounce my name without any issues, right?"

"Yes, but...I...just want a big brother..."

"I see..."

"Do you dislike it?'

"Of course not. I always wanted to know what it's like to have a little sister." I came closer to her and patted her head. "Though, you don't have to look very far to find a better big brother than me."

"No, don't say that…I think that you'd be a great big brother! Ehehe~" Yui seemed to like being patted on the head.

"That's all the questions that I have. Rest up. I'll be watching."

"Thank you, onii-chan. You go ahead and rest, too."

I went back to my spot and made myself comfortable. Yui laid down on the sleeping bag.

We stayed like that for a couple of minutes before I heard Yui's voice. "U-um, onii-chan…" she muttered.

"What is it?" I opened my eyes and looked at her. She was facing my direction, peering at me with her lower face hidden inside the sleeping bag.

"Can you...pat my head...for a bit?" She pleaded. "Just for a few minutes…"

"Sure." I went to her and started patting her head.

"Thank you very much...ehehe~" She giggled. "Goodnight, onii-chan."

"Good night...Yui."

And just like that, I felt like a huge weight leave my shoulders. It's quite surprising how much these kinds of things weigh me down and eat at me.

However, while things turned out to fine, it didn't excuse my train of thought and the actions that I would have taken.

I don't have any way to turn back time, so the best I could do is to strive to become better.

We stayed like that for a few minutes before I pulled my hand away. When I saw that she was fast asleep, I went back to my spot and slept.

 _ **Loading...Complete  
Changing Perspective: Third Person  
*****_

Kirito stared at the bright morning sky. The sun was bright and relaxing. The weather was slightly chilly but overall very comfortable.

A perfect morning weather setting to wake up to.

Except that nobody in his party was able to appreciate that at the moment.

"Here, Silica-chan." Asuna handed Silica a bowl of chicken soup.

Silica accepted the bowl with a smile. "Thank you, Asuna-san."

"Are you alright?"

"...yes."

Silica was smiling, but Kirito and Asuna could tell that Silica was anxious.

"Damn it...where the hell are you, Riwet?" Kirito muttered under his breath. They had been searching for Riwet for hours now, and they had found little to no information on his current location. The only good bit of info was from Argo's new protege, but that was also a dead end.

Asuna brought out her necklace - the one that 'contained' Yui - and held it close to her. _Yui, please...where are you?...tell us, please..._ She pleaded wordlessly

Silica looked silently at Asuna. They filled her in on the details while they were searching for Riwet. She found the story to be unlike anything that she had heard before, but Kirito and Asuna weren't the lying sort, so she decided to believe them.

Silica looked away from Asuna and looked up at the sky. _Riwet..._

Suddenly, Asuna's necklace started to glow again. "..eh?" Asuna gasped. "Wh-what?!" The group came closer and inspected the glowing object. "Yui-chan! Can you hear me?!"

There was no response. Instead, Asuna received a message as the object turned dim. She saw that the message came from a player named 'Yui'. She immediately opened the message. The message didn't have any words. Instead, there was something attached to the file. She opened the attachment and showed it to the group.

"Is that...map data?" Silica asked.

Kirito furrowed his eyebrows. "Hmm... it looks like it, but it's distorted."

"I haven't something like this happen before. Have you?"

Kirito and Asuna shook their heads. It was, without a doubt, a bug of some sorts. There was no way to distort a piece of map data the way they see it now.

"Kyururu!" Pina excitedly flew away from Silica's shoulder and stared intently at the map data.

The blurred window slowly became clearer. After a few moments, all the visual noise and interference were completely gone.

"T-this is…!" Silica exclaimed, immediately recognizing the place shown in the map data.

 _ *****  
Loading...Complete**_

 _ **Changing Perspective: Riwet  
*****_

"..." I slowly opened my eyes and slightly raised my head. I must've dozed off...I brought up my Player Menu and checked the time...yeah, a couple of hours have passed. I slowly stretched my limbs and Scanned the area. Nothing really changed from when I last checked. I checked up on Yui. She was still sleeping comfortably.

Not gonna lie, back then, I wanted a little sister for more...taboo reasons. I used to believe that little sisters were _moe_ as hell. The idea of being able to live with these sweet little angels who absolutely worship you was...appealing, to say the least. It was a confusing time in my life, and I eventually grew out of it once I realized that I'm just attracted to girls in general who're just a bit younger than me. It was just that I didn't have that experience in real life. Come to think of it, maybe that's why I'm not attracted to big sister archetypes...

Meh. Live and learn, I guess.

However, now that I had a little sister of sorts, I found out that it wasn't really close to what I initially imagined. I don't feel any romantic feelings with Yui. It was something different.

Huh...for a loner like me, I thought that I'd hate having yet another person to tend to. Turns out, at the very least, I don't mind it.

All of a sudden, three spheres of light appeared near the Teleport Gate. I cleared my head, quickly grabbed Caerulus, and stood up from my spot. We may have to handle some unexpected guests.

It didn't take me very long to realize that, while they were unexpected, they were certainly not unwelcome.

"...Riwet…?" My eyes were drawn to the girl that muttered my name. Man, it's been too long since I last talked to her.

"...Mn…" I heard Yui stir from her sleep. She slowly sat up and unzipped rubbed her eyes. However, the second she saw the newcomers, her eyes widened and her hands flew to her mouth. "Eh…?"

 _ *****  
Chapter End  
*****_

 **A/N** : Chapter done. No complaints here.

Thank you again for the review, Rodvek97. Like Yui said, she calls Riwet onii-chan because she wanted an older brother. Simple as that.

That's all for now. Thank you very much, and have a good one.


	31. CH 29 - Reunion Pt2

Chapter 29 - Reunion Pt.2

"Wh-what...what are you doing here?" Yui muttered. "There was no...no way for you to know-!" Her face froze. She seemed to realize something. "No…" She looked down and kept shaking her head. "No...No! This shouldn't have happened! This...this shouldn't..."

Kirito and Asuna didn't waste any time rushing over to Yui and wrapping their arms around her. Yui's shoulder started shaking and she cried into their arms."I...I'm sorry, papa, mama….I just…I…*sniff*..." Yui's voice was breaking under her sobs. "I just wanted to...I *sniff* just wanted to see you…*sniff*..."

I silently watched the scene for a moment before I made my way towards Silica. I noticed her tired expression. "Are you alright?" I asked.

"I...I'm fine." She replied and forced a smile. I reached out with my hand and caressed her cheek. She was putting up a strong front, but she was clearly exhausted. "I'm fine, really…" Tears started to well up on the edges of her eyes. Then, she buried her face into my chest. " Thank goodness that you're alive...I...I was so worried…!" I wrapped my arms around her and stroked the back of her head.

We spent a few minutes like this before I felt that Silica had calmed down enough. I saw that Yui had also calmed down. I cleared my throat. "So, I guess introductions are in order." I broke away from Silica and turned towards the other side of the room. "Philia-san, you can come out. They're friends."

The others cocked their head before they realized that there was another person in the area.

Slowly, part of the floor seemingly peeled off and revealed Philia. There wasn't anything that she could hide behind, so she hid under a blanket that had the same color as the floor.

Philia slowly came closer to us. Their brows furrowed when they saw the color of her cursor. "This is Philia. She's been trapped here longer than me. Philia-san, this is Kirito, Asuna, and Silica. They're some of the strongest players I have ever known. At the very least, you can trust them more than you can trust me."

"It's alright, papa, mama, Silica-san. You can trust her." Yui spoke up.

After a quiet and tense moment, Asuna stepped forward and flashed a friendly smile at Philia. "Nice to meet you, Philia." Kirito also stepped forward and nodded silently.

"...likewise…" Philia nodded back and looked away.

"So, what happened? How did you find this place?" I asked the three.

They gave me a quick rundown of what happened within the past few hours. "The coordinates pointed to a forest area on the 11th Floor - the same one where Pina and I met. When we went to that location, we found a broken, glowing Transport Console. When we came close to it, it teleported us here." Silica concluded.

I turned towards Yui. "So, what happened on your end, Yui?"

"...It was around an hour after we finished talking and went to sleep…I woke up and accessed the main console. I was able to activate the Transport Console on the 11th Floor. I wrote a message to mama with the coordinates, but I was sure that I saved it for later when we find a way back to Aincrad proper." Yui looked back to Kirito, Asuna, and Silica. "Given that I still haven't found a way to activate the messaging here in the Hollow Area, I don't understand what made my message to be sent. It might be a bug or something else that forced it, but it doesn't matter." She hung her head down. "It's my fault. I'm sorry for trapping you here..."

Kirito shook his head. "Don't be absurd, Yui. We're glad that this happened."

"After all...we were able to meet you again." Asuna added.

"Mama…! Papa…!" The three of them shared one more loving embrace.

Silica came closer to me and held my hand. "I share their sentiments." She smiled.

I smiled back at her and patted her head for a moment before I turned my attention back to Yui. "So, what now?"

"...first off, we need to reactivate the Teleport Gate." Yui replied. "It isn't physically damaged, but it's missing a power source." She walked back to the main console. "Let's see…" Yui started to access multiple folders and files at an incredible speed. It looked like she was exhaustively opening and closing files and folders.

Kirito walked to her. "...wait, go back and go over there. Access that batch of folders." He pointed at one particular spot.

"Okay…"

Kirito let out a string of instructions to Yui as he came closer accessing the main console with Yui. After a few minutes, they smiled and opened a window. "Bingo." He sighed.

"You know a lot about computers and stuff, huh?" I commented.

"Sure do. Been fascinated by them for as long as I could remember. All right, let's see what we have...okay...this seems to be a quest of some sorts. The developers were using this Transport Console to test quests related reactivating them. Remember the Transport Console quest back in the 57th Floor Labyrinth? "

I sighed. "Yeah. Is this as tedious as that one?"

"Nothing concrete yet, but I've got a hunch that it would be."

"...great."

The Labyrinth on the 57th Floor was one of the most infuriatingly tedious things that the clearing effort had to do. It had no monsters, and there were only two floors. In the first floor, a large stone slab rested behind a broken Transport Console. The walls of the second floor were made out of transparent material, and it was clear enough that we could make out what was inside that floor - an active Transport Console and what appeared to be the gates leading to the boss room.

We spent a whole lot of time dealing with that room. The stone slab had something written on it, but it was all in Braille so we had to decipher it using a booklet that was on sale at one of the stores on that Floor. From there on, it was one damn task after another. Just thinking about it made my head hurt.

"Also looking at it further, it is possible to force the quest to complete, but we don't know the consequences of that." Yui added.

"Yeah. The worst thing that could happen is that Cardinal's gonna get tired of our crap and lock us out of the main area." Kirito concluded.

Asuna nodded. "We'll keep that option as a last resort, so let's focus on completing the quest properly. Do you have any details as to what we should be doing?"

"Yes." Yui replied. She opened her Player Menu and sent us the map coordinates. "A total of six items are needed to repair the Teleport Gate. We have the details for two of them, with more unlocking as we Progress. We can use this Main Console to teleport into the Hollow Area. Fortunately, the first two items are close to the Selvendys Sea of Trees Transport Console."

"...I know that place. The one closest to us." Philia pointed out. "The trees there aren't dense, but there's a lot of monsters present. Mostly goblins and orcs. They hunt in groups, so if one gets aggroed, there's a good chance that others will come. The path reaches a dead end after a while, and that place has a chest that won't open unless the monster guarding it is beaten."

Huh...that's weird. "I haven't seen any chest that has mechanics like that. Have you?" I asked. They shook their heads. Usually, you could just sneak past and open it.

"Anyways, while stealth can be an option, we need someone who specializes in DPS and is comfortable in dealing with large groups of enemies."

Kirito smiled. "Sounds like my kind of gig."

Asuna nodded. "I'm going with you, and make sure that you won't do something stupid." She turned towards Philia and flashed a friendly smile. "Will you come with us?"

"...alright." Philia nodded. I was surprised at how quickly she replied, but then again, she's probably sick of being alone, and/or stuck with me. Meh, can't really blame her.

"Do you also have any info on the location of the second item?" I asked.

"Hmm…" Philia took a look at the coordinates for a second before she shook her head. "...no. This area is behind a locked door. I don't have an idea as to where the key is."

"Oh, it said in the console that you have to kill a certain amount of enemies before the key spawns." Kirito spoke up.

"I see...you'd think that they have a hint or something written in there."

Kirito shrugged. "Hollow Area's a testing ground, after all. They haven't worked out the kinks at this point."

"Also, looking at the data here, it seems that the monsters here are individually well-balanced with no glaring weaknesses." Yui added. "In addition to that, they seem to have a passive buff to aggro range and combat abilities if a party of more than two people is present."

"So that means we either need two people with complementing strengths, or two all-rounders."

My turn. "Osu."

Silica stepped forward. "I'm coming with you."

"...Alright."

We spent a moment organizing our inventory to prepare for the upcoming expedition. In a span of a few minutes, Kirito Asuna, and I finished preparing, with Silica and Philia finishing a few seconds later.

"So, are all of you ready to go."

"I'll be ready...I'll head out after a couple of hours. I need some rest." I feigned a yawn.

They looked at me, confused. Silica seemed to realize what I was trying to accomplish. "I'm fine, Riwet."

"Yeah, but I'm not." I replied with a flat tone.

"Yeah. Damn knees, they sneak up on you." Kirito spoke up.

"Rest up. That's an order." Asuna said aloud to no one in particular.

Silica looked at Kirito and Asuna with a slight hint of indignation. She then looked at me with a...rather large hint of indignation.

"We're...gonna go now if that's okay with you." Kirito said.

"Stay safe, papa! Mama! Philia-san!" Yui shouted as she waved at them.

"Yeah, stay safe!" I also waved at them. Kirito accessed the Main Console, and the three of them were engulfed in a sphere of light before they disappeared.

Now that they were gone, I went back to my spot and sighed. "Ahhh, whew...I'm tired." I looked at Silica and pointed to the bed. "You should get some rest."

"I'm fine, Riwet." She repeated adamantly.

"And so I've heard...you should get some rest."

"What? I said _I'm fine_."

"Yeah, I agree...you should also get some rest." I looked at her with an expression of patience with a hint of defiance. I could do this all day.

Silica finally sighed. She took one look at the sleeping bed before she sat down next to me. She briskly laid her body to my side, resting her head on my lap. Pina perched on my shoulder and rested. Well, this was...

"...not quite what I had in mind." I unintentionally thought out loud.

"Do you have a problem with this?" Silica asked matter-of-factly.

"No, ma'am." I replied.

"Good."

I reached my hand down and slowly stroked her head. After a few minutes, Silica's face relaxed and she sighed. "Hey, Riwet…" She started.

"Yeah?"

"I...I'm sorry for being so stubborn…" She opened her eyes and meekly peeked at me, checking if I was mad.

"Apology accepted." I smiled. It's gonna take a whole lot more than that to make me mad at her. "You're not usually like this. Did something happen?"

"I...just had a bad dream before you disappeared, and...and I...feared for the worst...we looked everywhere for you...and I was starting to...starting to lose hope..."

"I'm sorry for making you worry...it's alright now. So relax and rest up."

"...okay…" She muttered. "But you better not go anywhere."

"I promise that I'll stay by your side."

"Pina, if Riwet tries to sneak off, eat him."

"Kyururu!" Pina affirmed.

I chuckled and lightly pinched Silica's cheek. Her brows furrowed and her cheeks puffed in annoyance before they relaxed and she let out a warm, comfortable smile - the kind that made my heart beat a bit faster. After a few minutes, Silica drifted off. I continued slowly stroking her hair.

 _ *****  
Loading...Complete  
**_ _ **Changing Perspective: Third Person  
*****_

"Hey, Asuna...I get the feeling that we aren't really needed here." Philia said.

"Eh, you get used to it." Asuna shrugged.

They were both silently watching Kirito as he was dusting himself off after viciously slicing and dicing the enemies that were blocking their path. "Whew. They can't hit me for crap but they can sure take a beating." Kirito was feeling in top condition. He appreciated the peaceful days playing with Asuna without a care in the world, but it felt good to stretch his limbs and wreck havoc on some mobs.

"Good work, Kirito-kun." Asuna approached Kirito. "You missed a spot." She reached out with her hand and brushed off the dust buildup below the back of Kirito's neck.

"Thanks." Kirito smiled at her.

Asuna smiled back. "Let's get going."

They continued towards the location on the map, clearing every enemy along the way. Kirito handled most of the work, making mincemeat out of whole groups of enemies that Philia knew weren't pushovers on their own. Once in a while, an enemy will ignore Kirito and attack the two girls, but Asuna would just dispose of it in a blink of an eye. In spite of that, they were still routinely checking up on Philia, even though she wasn't in any danger.

Philia silently observed Kirito and Asuna when they weren't looking. Compared to Riwet, her first encounter with them was much more favorable. They were friendly and upbeat, but also absurdly strong. "So, you two are friends with Riwet?" She asked as they were walking through a path without any monsters nearby.

Both of them nodded. "He's one of the first people that I befriended." Asuna said.

"Yeah. He's been there since the beginning." Kirito added. "If I recall correctly, he didn't miss a single Floor Boss fight."

"Really? How strong is he compared to you two?"

Kiriti pondered for a moment. "Asuna and I are faster and do more damage, but we can't take as many hits as he can. With regards to PVE in general, we can deal with monsters faster, but he's more suited for dealing with traps, gimmicks, and other unexpected situations. As for PVP...we're not really in a rush to find out."

"I see…"

"So, Philia...I noticed that you're weary with Riwet-kun." Asuna remarked.

"Well...we didn't have the greatest first impression, to say the least. Though I guess I'm partly to blame for that."

"That's too bad. He's a nice person. He's just a little distant at first. Trust me." Asuna then opened her Player Menu. "We're still a good distance away. Let's get a move on."

"I'll take the front." Kirito spoke up.

"Right behind you." Asuna turned towards Philia. "Let's go."

Philia nodded and followed them. She felt a sense of safety and camaraderie with these two. They were genuinely friendly and welcoming, as well as stupidly strong.

As for Riwet, she had to admit that he really wasn't that bad, all things considered. She could still slightly feel the pain of being punched in the jaw, but he also guarded her when she was unconscious and he helped her find a safe zone.

Her desire to reach out and befriend these people slowly started to well up. She had experienced prolonged isolation multiple times before, but she was always one Teleport Crystal away from a place of safety. A month of constant fighting and hiding with little to no respite wore her down, and all she wanted right now was to be able to talk to somebody that didn't want to hurt her.

But in the end, she changed her mind and raised her guard back up. Regardless of what she felt, it'd be better for her to keep her distance.

After all, she was not sure that she was even human.

 _ *****  
Chapter End  
*****_

 **A/N:** No problems with this chapter. I feel that my pacing is getting a bit slow, so I'll work on ramping it up on the next chapters. To be honest, I don't know why I feel that way. Maybe it's because of how close the events are to each other. For reference, the events from CH 1 to 10 spanned through half a year, and CH 11 to 20 spanned a year and a half. CH 21 to 29 all occurred within the span of two months. Nothing really major - just something for me to keep in mind.

Thank you for your review, ShatteredHCD. I can think of a couple of reasons why I don't have more reviews:

\- There are around 3000 SAO fics (not counting crossovers). While it's not at the level of, say, One Piece (~39K fics) or other big ones, it's still a bit crowded in my opinion.

\- The SAO anime adaptation ran throughout 2012-2014. That's when the interest for SAO was sky high. I posted my very first chapter at 2016. I missed my window. I regret not starting sooner not because it would've made me more popular (which I would've appreciated nonetheless), but mainly because I had a lot more free time back then and I would've made so much more progress. I spent so much time daydreaming about an epic story when I could've just _freaking_ done it.

\- People are just content to read and not leave any review.

\- My fic is just straight up meh. Nothing to be mad about, but only a few things to be happy about.

Regardless of that, I am glad that you're liking my fic. I took a quick look at your fic. I've actually seen worse than this, but I guess that's just cold comfort. And since it's your first chapter, you can rewrite it If, someday, you decided to come back and continued writing, then gimme a shout and I'll read it.

As for the scope of this fic, you can trust me that at the very least, I'll be able to finish the Fairy Dance arc. I've got plans for further than that, but I don't wanna risk promising something that I may not be able to fulfill.

Furthermore, thank you for mentioning that you had a pro writer to harp on your story. I reached out to him and he agreed to review the first three chapters of AWE. A very big thank you to Agent 94. Those three chapters were first ones that I worked on, and boy it was rough. I'm working on it occasionally and I'm hesitant to set a finished date as to when I finish rewriting, but I promise that it'll be done within 2018.

Finally, to yaelburstine and the other guest reader: Thank you very much, and I'm glad you like it. For the ship, I think I made a bit of a misunderstanding. I was trying to explain why Yui went to Kirito and Asuna instead of all the other couples present in SAO. Riwet being Riwet, he equated it to him "not loving Silica as much as Kirito and Asuna love each other", when that's not quite the case.

So let me make this clear - no, the ship is safe from danger.

That comes later.

That's all for now. Thank you very much, and have a good one.


	32. Supplemental 3

**Gallery**

Fantasy Image * Living room of a house. Silica is seen sat down on the floor with a playful smile as she dangles a wand toy in front of a Russian Blue cat with a dark blue collar around its neck. The cat eyes the toy with a serious look on its face as it cautiously swipes at the toy. A small British Shorthair kitten with blue fur is perched on Silica's shoulder, interested at the scene.

Fantasy Image * Living room of a house. Riwet is seen sat down on the floor, silently patting the head of an orange tabby cat with a red collar as it playfully swipes at his hands and nuzzles its head on his stomach. A small British Shorthair kitten with blue fur is lying on Riwet's shoulder, interested in the scene.

Fantasy Image* Riwet is standing on a hill, his front is facing the frame and his figure obscures an unnaturally large moon, which has bathed the night sky with an eerie blue color and obscures Riwet into darkness. He has Caerulus in his left hand. Two blue orbs glowed from where Riwet's eyes are supposed to be. A faint blue aura envelops his body.

Fantasy Image* A humongous golem monster dominates the frame, towering over a group of players. One player stands as the vanguard, his sword raised high and radiating a brilliant amber light.

Fantasy Image* An interior of a bar in Aincrad. Asuna, Nairi, and Wilhelm share (non-alcoholic) drinks with the Moonlit Black Cats members in celebration of Silica's addition to the team. On the side, two figures are vaguely seen - one is wearing jet-black clothes while the other is wearing deep blue clothes.

 _ *****  
ONWARD  
*****_

 **Consolidation**

 _October 27, 2024_

"..." Sefton snuck a quick look at Lizbeth. He opened his mouth to speak, but decided against it and looked away.

"..." Lizbeth knew full well that Sefton was staring at her, but she didn't know what to do or what to say. She instead opted to remain quiet.

They were silently sharing a meal on Lizbeth's guest room, located on the second floor of her smith shop. Usually, Sefton would feel happy and at ease when they were together, but that wasn't the case recently.

Ever since they went back from Riwet's birthday party, the atmosphere around them was awkward. They were ashamed at their inability to hold their liquor and their lack of self-control afterward.

They didn't like this feeling. They were in the same room together, but they felt so far away from each other. They wanted things to go back the way they were, but neither of them was confident enough to be the one to start addressing the elephant in the room.

Lizbeth tried her damndest to say something, but she wussed out at the last minute. She sighed and stood up. "Are you done eating?" She asked. Her tone came out a bit harsh because she was so annoyed at her own lack of courage.

"Y-yeah?" Sefton squeaked back. He was oblivious to what Lizbeth was thinking, so he took her change in tone as a sign that he was in trouble.

Lizbeth reached in an took his plate. "I'll be washing this." She stacked it with hers and carried it with her arms.

"I-I can help."

"No...just stay right there."

Sefton looked disheartened. Lizbeth bit her lip and silently chastised herself for taking out her irritation on Sefton.

Lizbeth turned around and started to make her way to the kitchen, not realizing that one of the utensils - a small spoon - had silently fallen from the stack.

"Watch out, Liz!" Sefton tried to warn her, but he was too late.

"Eh..? Wah!" She stepped on the spoon and slipped.

Sefton darted towards Lizbeth, grabbing her from behind and trying to keep her steady. He failed and they both fell to the ground. Sefton fell on his back, and Lizbeth fell on her side onto Sefton's chest. By some miracle, the plates that Lizbeth carried didn't shatter.

Sefton grimaced, slowly opening his eyes. "Gh...ahh...are you alright?"

"…" Lizbeth raised her head to look at Sefton.

Sefton cocked his head. "What is it?"

Lizbeth gripped Sefton's shirt. "This...feels wrong. I shared a meal with you, but it felt like you weren't even in the same room as me…"

"Liz..." Sefton tightened his hug.

"Let's stay like this for a bit…"

Sefton reached out with his hand and slowly caressed his lover's hair.

Slowly but surely, both of them started to relax. "I know that it hasn't really been that long, but it felt like it's been forever since we were this close." Sefton commented.

"Yeah…"

Lizbeth slowly raised her face and smiled at Sefton. Sefton cupped her face and gently used his finger to wipe off a tear building on the corners of her eyes. "Your hand...it's really warm…"

They continued like that for what felt like an eternity. Not that they emptiness they felt slowly gave way to warm bliss. It was the same feeling that they had back when they were stuck in the hole on the 55th Floor dungeon.

Sefton took a deep breath and broke the silence. "So Liz, for the record, I'm sorry about what happened. If I just had a bit more self-control...I could've stopped you from...you know...instead, I was part of it."

"Don't apologize for that..." Lizbeth shook her head. "We were both to blame, and I'm sorry for acting cold towards you for the last few day. Besides...I...I'm glad that it was you…"

Sefton nodded. _Now's the perfect time for an icebreaker._ "Well…now that you say that, I'm kinda regretting that I ever forgot about it." He admitted with an embarrassed laugh.

"...perv." Lizbeth lightly punched him in the chest. "Here I am, pouring my heart out, and that's what you're thinking about? Geez...way to ruin the mood." She replied with a hint of annoyance in her voice, but she couldn't hide the fact that she felt relieved and happy for the first time in a while.

"Sorry." Sefton smiled, happy that Lizbeth was back to her usual self.

They both stood up and slapped the dirt off their clothes. "Well, it's not really a bad thing, so all is forgiven." Lizbeth shrugged.

"Really?"

"H-however!" Lizbeth's voice went an octave higher. "You have to make it up to me!" She closed her eyes and stuck her chin out. "Y-you know what to do…"

"..." Sefton slowly leaned in and brought his lips to hers.

They cleaned up the mess they made and washed the dishes. As soon as they were done cleaning, Sefton approached Lizbeth and held her hand. Lizbeth's face reddened and she looked down, but she didn't move from her spot. He took this chance and pulled her close.

"Wh-what do you think you're doing?" Lizbeth complained, but she wasn't exactly resisting.

Sefton smiled at her. "I can't?"

Her face reddened even more and she looked away. "D-don't look at me like that…o-of course you can."

Sefton kissed her on the forehead. "Thanks."

"I-idiot…"

And thus, their night continued.

 _ *****  
**_ ** _End_  
** *******

 **Butterfingers**

 _October 27, 2024_

"And with that, our expedition for today has come to an end." Nairi announced. "Good work today! Rest up, and stay safe on your future adventures."

"Yes, ma'am! Thank you very much for today!" Her companions gave one final salute before they dispersed.

Nairi sighed and decided to take a leisurely walk to relax. She exited the KoB headquarters and walked around Granzam.

Granzam was the main settlement on the 55th Floor, and it housed the KoB headquarters. It was also known as the Steel City because the city was mostly composed of tall towers made of black steel, and also because the city lacked greenery, trees, and flora. The weather was also cold and particularly oppressive during winter. Nairi once disliked being in this city, but it gradually grew on her.

She eventually arrived at a small area - a place that she frequently went to relax and de-stress. It was tucked in the corner of the city, away from the busier parts. The area consisted of a metal bench facing a water fountain that was built into the walls. Beside the fountain was a spiraling staircase that lead to the top of the city wall, providing a clear view of the 55th Floor's diverse geography.

She sat on the bench, her body wincing slightly from touching the cold metal, but quickly relaxing after a few moments. The nearby lantern was on, illuminating the area with a bright, orange glow that she found to be soothing to the senses.

She sighed and looked up at the sky, feeling strangely nostalgic. Who knew that someone like her would end up being one of the higher-ranking officers in the KoB?

In real life, Nairi was quiet and withdrawn, only finding solace in studying and playing video games. She bought a NerveGear and SAO to be able to become more confident and outgoing, hoping that it would motivate her to become more sociable.

It left a sour taste in her mouth, but she had to acknowledge that fact that she owed a lot to this death game. It forced her to adapt, to socialize, and to cooperate with others in order to survive. She once tried to play Solo, but the experience wore her down. She wasn't unfamiliar with playing video games alone, but SAO was just too much for her to handle on her own.

Thanks to SAO, her anxiety towards other people all but completely disappeared, and she now had people she could call close friends. In addition to that, many people praised her leadership skills, something that she herself didn't realize that she had.

However, those things came at a price for her, and also the people close to her. She regretted not being strong enough back then. Had she become stronger earlier, she might have been able to save them. But nothing much can be done about the past other than using it to avoid making the same mistakes in the future.

She had faced numerous adversaries in the two years that she was trapped in here, from the hostile monsters inhabiting Aincrad, to her own personal demons. Through her own perseverance as well as through the help of other people, she overcame these challenges, and doing so, she grew as a person. However, the fight is not yet over. Now, it was her turn to help and the protect the people who are important to her.

She shook her head to clear up her thoughts and decided that it was enough reminiscing for the night. She opened up her Player Menu decided to send a message to one of her friends. Maybe check up on Asuna and ask if she was enjoying her break, or ask Lizbeth if anything happened since Nairi saw that she was on edge recently...

Her hand stopped when she realized that she unconsciously hovered over Keita's name in her Contacts tab.

Her eyes widened and her cheeks were tinged with a slight pink color.

 _Well, a little message wouldn't hurt._

…

 _I-it's for the sake of maintaining a good relationship, after all!_

…

 _N-no! Not that kind of relationship!_ Nairi rapidly shook her head and tried to calm herself down. That's right. It was to maintain KoB's relationship to one of its many affiliate guilds. It had been a while since Nairi saw the Moonlit Black Cats. A brief status update was nothing out of the ordinary.

She started writing her message, asking if he was doing well and if the Moonlit Black Cats needed any assistance. However, once again, her unconscious thoughts resurfaced. Before she knew it, the words _I love you. Please go out with me_ was written at the end of the message.

…

She let out a long sigh and looked up.

There was no way to deny it. Yes, she liked Keita ever since they first met. He was always kind and optimistic, and she saw that he really cared for his guild. Some players scoffed at him behind his back, calling him two-faced and naive, but Nairi knew better. Throughout the years that she and he worked together, she firmly believed that he was a genuinely kind and caring person, and while he was optimistic, he was grounded in reality and didn't venture into delusion. Before she knew it, she developed feelings for him.

However, she felt that any growth she received would disappear if she would confess by a message. If she was going to confess, she should confess in person. The mere thought of that made her head spin, but it was the final test for her to come out of her shell. She _will_ express her feelings to him someday soon.

Just not right now.

For now, she should probably just delete that line before she sent it-

 _Message Sent._

 _ *****  
END  
*****_

 **A/N:** Some little fluff here and there. I wanted to expand on the other characters' relationships, and this is the perfect place to post them to not meddle with my story's current pace. Extra cheese per usual.

Alright. I've got a rough idea of what changes I want to implement -

Major Patches:

Extensive Rework of CH 2 - Reading it now, this can be seen as a low-effort Chapter with nothing much happening. And reading CH 1 to 3, I noticed that I haven't developed Riwet enough for the audience to care. Granted, I built upon his character throughout the story, but I want to make him likable enough within these three chapters so that people would stick around with the story. I'll rework Chapter 2 to do just that.

Minor Patches

Rewrite some of the scenes depicting Riwet being dismembered - I was _this_ close to making it a running gag. But now, I decided that I should take that seriously. I'll change the past scenes to convey a similar sense of threat, but also a bit less visceral. I'll save the dismemberment for the really heavy stuff.

Minor general rewrite of CH 1 and 2 - worldbuilding, grammar, etc.

Rewrite Sefton's introduction to the fic - While Sefton had his own pivotal moments that fundamentally changed the fic's narrative compared to the original canon, I felt that putting him into Chapter 1 made him seem a bit more important than intended.

Just like what I said in my previous Chapter, I don't have a clear deadline as to when I'm gonna be done with this, but expect it to be within 2018.

That's all for now. Onwards!


	33. CH 30 - Birds and Bees and Blades

Chapter 30 - The Birds and Bees, and Blades

Silica stirred and came to. She slowly opened her eyes and was relieved to find that Riwet hadn't moved from his spot. "..." She realized that he had fallen asleep, his body heaving slightly to the rhythm of his breaths.

She got up from his lap and stretched. She had a good sleep, especially compared to last night.

Silica saw Yui working on the Main Console. The young girl in white was fully engrossed in the dancing digital tabs and windows that filled the Main Console's enormous display monitors.

Silica walked towards Yui. Yui turned around to face her. "Good morning, Silica-san."

"...good morning, Yui-chan." She replied. "What are you working at?"

"There's a lot of basic features that are currently disabled, and I'm working on activating them. Things like messaging and being able to make use of Teleport Crystals."

"I see..." Silica's eyes watched the numerous windows that were shown on the main console's display. "I'm sorry, I don't know much about computers, so I won't be of any help on your end." She had learned a lot of things during her tenure in SAO, but she was still hazy about the underlying systems that made up this virtual world.

Yui shook her head. "It's alright. I can't help you fight out there, so I'm doing what I can right here."

"Kyururu…" Pina eyed Yui intently.

"?" Yui turned to face the dragon.

"Ah, that is Pina. She's my familiar."

"Hmm…" Yui narrowed her eyes.

"What is it, Yui-chan?"

"She seems...peculiar."

"How so?"

"She seems to possess a complex structure and behavioral pattern compared to other Tamed Beasts."

"I was wondering about that, too." Silica told Yui of the various observations she took note of as she took care of Pina. Compared to other tamed monsters, Pina was more curious, intelligent, and self-aware. She was also very expressive in subtle ways. At this point, Silica could basically tell what Pina's mood by how she moved her tail and other body language cues. "Although as far as I know, I'm the only one that successfully tamed a Feathered Little Dragon, so I'm not sure if these characteristics are exclusive to Pina, or a general trait of her species."

"I see…" Yui pondered for a bit. "I can feel that there's something unique about her, but I'm not quite sure where to start. The Main Console might be able to access her underlying processes, but…" She trailed off. While she has extremely efficient though process and data extraction rate, her hands were full right now.

Silica shook her head. "It's alright, Yui-chan. Even if I don't quite know what Pina is, I am more than grateful for her existence. Caring for her is the least that I can do."

Yui smiled at that. She nodded and turned her attention to Pina. "Regardless of that, it's nice to meet you, Pina." She said as she held her hand out. The dragon sniffed her hand before she nuzzled it with her head. "Ehehe~" She giggled.

"It seems that she likes you." Silica pointed out, her face relaxing into a smile as she stared at the tiny girl playing with an even tinier dragon. It was definitely one of the cutest things that she had ever seen.

She noticed that Yui had turned her attention towards her. "What is it, Yui-chan?"

"I just noticed that I haven't properly introduced myself to you and Pina." Yui replied. She straightened her posture and bowed. "My name is Yui. Formerly a Mental Health Counseling Program, and currently an unshackled Artificial Intelligence unit. I hope we get along."

Silica stood up and bowed back. "Nice to meet you, too. I hope we get along as well!"

Yuii relaxed her posture and smiled. Silica smiled back. "U-um...Silica-san…" Yui slightly hunched over and rubbed her palms together.

"What is it?"

"Can I call you 'onee-chan"?"

"...of course you can, Yui-chan."

Yui's face brightened, and she let out a warm smile. "Onee-chan!"

Silica reached out and patted her head. She couldn't quite understand what being an 'onee-chan' to an AI would entail, but she felt that it was her chance to pay back what she owed. After all, Pina became her most trusted companion.

Silica heard rustling from where Riwet was laying. She turned her head and saw that Riwet came to and was stretching his limbs. "Good morning, Riwet."

"Good morning, onii-chan!"

"Nh...good morning….phew." Riwet slowly made his way toward the two. "I guess I really was tired, huh…" He muttered. "So, what are you two talking about?"

"Onii-chan, listen! Silica-san agreed to be my onee-chan!" Yui beamed happily.

"Really? That's great." Riwet replied, turning his attention to Silica. "Were you able to rest?"

"Yes. How about you?"

"I slept great." Riwet tilted his head before he reached out with his hand. "Stay still."

"Why?"

"Bed Hair. I'll fix it." Silica stayed still as he patted her head, his hands gently combing her hair and massaging her scalp. Her face relaxed and her eyes drooped slightly in delight.

Silica had lost count as to how many times Riwet had patted her head ever since they met. He seemed to like giving them as much as she liked getting them, as he once said to her that her hair was really pleasant to touch. Regardless of how many times he patted her head, it never failed to make her feel calm, comfortable, and at ease.

"There. All good." Riwet said after a minute.

"Thank you." She replied.

Riwet smiled back and slid his hand down to cup her cheek. Silica slightly winced at his unexpected action, but she quickly relaxed. She leaned her head on his hand, both of them stuck in their own little world.

*Stare~* They took a few moments to remember that Yui was there, observing the whole thing. Their face reddened and they broke away. "See that, Onii-chan? You really like onee-chan!" She exclaimed.

Riwet's face reddened even more, but a smile slowly crept on his face. "...I guess I really do…"

"?" Silica tilted her head.

After a few moments of small talk, three blue spheres of light appeared at the center of the room and promptly disappeared, revealing three familiar figures.

"Phew…" Kirito sighed and stretched his limbs. "Gotta love a good workout." Philia and Asuna were behind him.

"Good work, Kirito." Riwet greeted the black-clothed swordsman. "Had fun?"

"Oh, you betcha."

"So, you got the quest item?"

Kirito nodded and took something out of his inventory. It was a purple rock, or what was left of it. It was small enough to fit within Kirito's palm, and it looked like it was a piece of something bigger.

"It's called an Imt. Sharicite Fragment." He explained. "We'll need about five more of these to power this gate. If the other pieces are about as big as this, then it's gonna be about as big as a baseball." He then turned to Yui. "So, any info on the third area?"

Yui nodded. "The third area is filled with Treants and Insect-type monsters with most of them being a large bee monster named Yellow Pulse. None of the insects use poison, but they have higher than average damage and evasion. This area seems to be where the system tests the effects of evasion."

"Got it. We'll rest and wait for Riwet to finish before we head out."

"Alright." Riwet cracked my knuckles and looked at Silica. "Ready?"

She nodded. "Yes."

"Then, let's get going."

 ** _***_**  
 ** _Loading...Complete_**  
 ** _Changing Perspective: Riwet_**  
 ** _***_**

When Yui explained to me what this so-called Hollow Area was, I started to expect a lot of things. Mechanics and items that could break the game. MissingNo's, Dittmans, Wavedashes, all those neat stuff. I didn't find any in the forest area where I was forcefully teleported to, but this place gave a glimpse.

We were inside a large dungeon built under a large tree. The interior resembled a medieval cathedral, with a smooth floor made out of marble, and the walls were covered by stained glass windows emitting a bright glow. The place looked unnaturally clean, free of cracks and dust.

In keeping up with the theme, the monsters in the area resembled knights, fully clad in plate armor and twice as tall as the average plage. There were two types of knight monsters - Cursed Sword and Sable Sword. The Cursed Sword wore silver armor and had a shortsword equipped while the Sable Sword was slightly bigger, had a longsword equipped, and wore jet black armor with a crimson outline.

They were fast and skilled with their blades. The white ones were quick, and mainly used Weapon Skills that hit multiple times. The black ones hit hard and used damaging Weapon Skills that had a chance to stun.

Probably the most striking detail about the monsters was that they were unfinished. When they did Weapon Skills, ones and zeroes appeared with the particles. Also, some of the monsters had missing textures on their armor that was replaced by grids of green wireframe. SAO can't completely hide its futuristic interior behind its medieval exterior out of compromise - what with the existence of Player Menus and all that - but this place tore its skin up and exposed its innards for us to see.

We were definitely snooping around somewhere we're not supposed to be in. And I couldn't help but feel excited.

Sadly, as far as actual combat was concerned, the monsters were a bore. They had no gimmicks, only relying on a handful of moves that were effective, but I could predict them since I saw it almost all the time. Their defenses were solid, but they didn't wear shields, and there were numerous gaps in their armor where it met their joints. Just cut their arms off and they're helpless.

And worst of all, they couldn't handle relentless aggression.

"Khaa! Seiya!" Silica shouted, unleashing Weapon Skill after Weapon Skill and skillfully decimating a group of them in an instant. I let her go all out because it was apparent that the monsters couldn't deal with her speed and damage output. She was small - especially compared to what we were fighting against - but the way she tore the monsters apart was a sight to behold.

It made sense that their combat pattern was limited given that even their monster designs weren't even finished yet. Part of me wanted to see what they were like if they were buffed, but I'd wouldn't risk my party members' safety for my curiosity.

By the time we were done, the area was utterly destroyed. The once pristine interior was covered with dust, rubble, and shards of broken glass. One wall had a huge hole from when I threw a Sable Sword towards it. Though, I noticed that the area was repairing itself. Green wireframe started appearing over damaged parts of the area, and particles slowly coalesced, undoing the damage.

I dusted myself off. "So _that's_ what the system's been testing here."

Silica nodded. "Outside of scripted events and particularly powerful attacks, SAO doesn't do much in terms of environmental damage, and even then, the damage is minimal." She looked around. "This is what two Clearers could accomplish. I can't imagine the added strain to SAO systems should this be fully implemented."

I shrugged. "To be honest, I was too busy dealing with the monsters to fully appreciate this. I know that it's the little things that count, but this feels like a waste."

"Well, we could try and use it to our advantage. Like, cut off and drop the ceiling on monsters."

"Good idea. But on the other, hand monsters are gonna be able to use it on us as well. And since they're already inside the area, they'll have it prepared in time for us."

"That's true...well, I hope they at least change it if it gets implemented."

We continued further in, defeating enemies along the way.

I dusted my clothes and glanced at Silica. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but you look like you're enjoying this almost as much as I do."

She tilted her head and pondered. "Hmm...it's not exactly like that." She looked away and approached a nearby stained glass window. She touched the smooth glass, deep in thought. "...it doesn't happen as often, but once in a while, I'd reminisce on earlier times...it was still fun, but I was so over my head that I didn't realize how powerless I was. Being able to defeat powerful enemies reassures me that I've grown stronger."

"Just don't overdo it, alright?"

"Don't worry. I know my limits...also, I don't reminisce as much now. Do you want to know why?"

"Why?"

She gave a warm, but slightly mischievous smile. "Because you weren't there back then."

My face turned a bit hot. I came closer to her and patted her head. "You sure know some killer lines."

"Ehehe…"

All in all, it was smooth sailing for the most part. However, as we were halfway through the area, I slowly felt uneasy. My trusty Scanning showed nothing, but I knew to not rely on it too much. It was something that I learned from Argo sneaking up on me all the time back then.

We eventually reached the second to the last area. It was a large hallway leading to another floor. We started walking, but as soon as we were halfway there, I stopped and turned around. "To the person following us...come out. I know you're out there." I called out to the empty space behind us.

Silica was confused for a second, but she caught on and raised her guard.

The worst case scenario would be that there was really nothing following us. I'd look like a fool to Silica, but that would be a far more desirable outcome compared to the both of us getting caught in a trap.

But my hunch turned out to be correct.

A figure slowly walked away from behind one of the pillars.

It was a girl. She looked she was around my age.

However, the one detail that I immediately noticed wasn't her lavender hair, nor the massive greatsword sheathed on her side.

As much as I hate to admit it, it was, in fact, the two freckles on her left breast inside her exposed cleavage.

"Yo!" She raised her hand up slightly and gave a friendly wave.

I cleared my head and shifted my vision towards her face. I didn't raise my glaive, but I kept myself alert. This wasn't the time to be distracted. This girl's sneaky enough to not only hide from me, but she was also able to hide from Pina. And anyone who can sneak up on a Tamed Beast which specializes in reconnaissances wasn't weak by a long shot. "Why were you following us?" I asked.

"I'm just curious." She replied. "You're Riwet the Cobalt..." She smiled and looked at Silica. "And you're Silica the Dragon Master, right?"

I nodded. "Indeed, I am. And your name is…?"

"Strea. Nice to meet you!"

"Likewise, Strea-san."

"Oh, don't be so formal~" She approached me and leaned her body forward, looking upward at my face. I don't know if she was doing it on purpose or if she didn't care, but her bent body gave me a front row seat to her cleavage. I resisted the distraction and focused on her face and body in general, readying myself for any sudden movements.

Silica walked forward and stood between Strea and me. She even used her hand to shield me and push me back behind her. "I don't mean to be rude, but please make some distance." Her voice was low and her tone had a slight edge to it.

"Ahaha! Sorry, sorry!" Strea chuckled backed off.

"So, why were you following us?" I repeated.

"Oh, that. I was curious so I followed you. You two are famous, so of course!"

"Thanks...well, it seems that you're pretty strong yourself."

"Oh, you can tell? That's right. I've got a few tricks up my sleeve…" She cupped her cheek and looked away thoughtfully. "Hm...I guess it really is true…"

I tilted my head. "Is what true?"

She glanced at me and smiled. "You're much cuter up close!"

That took me by surprise. "Wh...at?" I almost stuttered, but I managed to keep my composure.

" _Excuse me?_ " I could feel the animosity in Silica's voice. I wonder why she's so wary towards her?

"Oh, I'm sorry I ignored you, Silica-chan! You're very attractive, too!"

"...thank you?" Now it was Silica's turn to feel confused.

"Well, see you later!" Strea waved at us before she turned around and walked away. We didn't even have the chance to process what she just said.

"...what's with her?" Silica asked aloud. "We just met, but she's too friendly…"

I shook my head. "I have no idea. Philia said that the players here act weird one way or the other. We should ask Yui about that."

"I see…that reminds me..." Silica narrowed her eyes at me. "Where were you looking at?"

"...at Strea?"

"Where, specifically?"

"Her face."

*Staaaaree*

"...among other places." Oh...so _that's_ why she wasn't too friendly towards Strea. "Sorry. It's my bad." I bowed low. I could go on about how it was a natural, involuntary reaction, but I think just apologizing and admitting that I screwed up would be more appropriate. After all, I _did_ look. No denying that.

She sighed and shook her head. "I'm sorry too. I know that you're not that kind of person, and it's not like that Strea person was trying to hide it."

"Thank you for understanding, Silica. To make up for it, I'll be sure not to look away when you expose your cleavage."

Silica's face reddened for a bit, but she shook it off with a scoff. "Heh. Prepare to be disappointed, then."

"Don't say that. They're bigger than mine, at least."

"That doesn't make it better."

"Size doesn't matter much. You have to appeal. Like this!" I turned away and bent my body to face her. For added measure, I placed my left hand on my hip and right hand on the back of my head. "Uggghhhhhh~" I let out a guttural moan and made a funny face.

Silica feinted a cringe and tried to keep her composure. "...pfft. Hahahaha!" Her poker face broke and she burst out laughing.

I chuckled along with her. "Ahh...the feeling of having no shame."

Silica shook her head in disapproval. "I can't believe that you're the mature one in our relationship."

"Yeah, well, I have my moments." I took a deep breath. "...anyway, the item's just behind the door. Let's get a move on."

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"Let's eat!" We shouted in unison and ate our dinner. We were all huddled together in one corner of the Administration area.

"Delicious!" Yui exclaimed as she took a bite out of a sandwich that Asuna lovingly prepared. "Onii-chan! Can I have some more of that root beer?"

"Of course you can. Here you go." I handed her one. "If you want, I've got a full keg of the stuff. I'm not gonna run out anytime soon."

Asuna narrowed her eyes. "I don't know. Carbonated drinks aren't healthy…"

Yui turned and hung her head down, looking up at Asuna. "Pleaaaaase?"

Asuna's resolve instantly crumbled. "Of course you can!"

"Yay! Mama, I love you!" Yui gave a warm smile towards her mother.

"Eehhehe~" She let out a dopey smile.

We continued eating, making small talk all the while. I looked around. Kirito, Asuna, and Yui were having a great time sharing a meal. Philia, seated a bit further away from us, also started winding down and relaxing. Silica happily talked with me while Pina was perched on my shoulder.

"Hey, Yui. Is there anything in particular that you want?" Kirito said to her. "You know, like a toy or a teddy bear or something? I know a couple of places where I can buy those kinds of things."

"Hmm...ah, yes! There is something that I want, but I'm not sure that you can buy it..."

"What is it, Yui-chan? If it's something you want, we can get it for you." Asuna assured her.

"I want a little sibling!" She shouted.

"Pfft!" Kirito, who was drinking water at that time, was caught off guard and spat his drink out.

"Eh…? E-e-e-eeehh?!" Asuna stammered.

"Mama, papa, how are babies made?" Yui asked.

Oh, boy. No amount of fighting monsters in Aincrad could prepare them for having 'the talk.'

"Before all of that, why do you want a little sister, Yui?" I spoke up.

"Well, everybody is out busy trying to find a way back to Aincrad, and after that, everyone will be busy fighting to clear Aincrad. I thought that if mama and papa made a baby, then I'd have someone to play with."

"Do you feel lonely when you're alone?"

"...just a teeny, tiny bit."

"Yui-chan...we'll make sure to spend some time with you even if we're busy with this death game." Asuna assured her.

"That's right." Kirito added. "Still, there are gonna be times where we can't play with you. I hate saying this, but just hang in there, ok?"

"No, papa, I'm sorry. The game is only going to get harder from here, and you and mama have your hands full enough as it is."

"Geez, that's not for you to worry about, you hear?" Asuna smiled at Yui. "We're your parents. We're thankful for every single moment we get to spend time with you. Do you understand?"

"Of course I do!" Yui smiled back. "So, where were we again...that's right! How are babies made?"

Welp. So much for changing the subject.

"Hmmm…you see, Yui...uh...so...yeah...uhh…" Kirito turned to Asuna. "Your mother will explain."

"Kirito-kun! You're unfair!"

"Mama?" Yui looked at her expectantly.

"O-okay, s-so…u-um…m-making babies is-is like a joint project between two people who love one another."

"A joint project? That sounds like fun! Does that mean that I'll get a little sister someday?"

"Ehh!?"

"Well, you and papa love each other, right? So maybe you could do that project together?"

They were scrambling and trying to find the right words to tell her. Meanwhile, I was there trying not to laugh my ass off.

SIlica nudged me on the shoulder. "Hey. Behave yourself." She whispered to me.

"I know, I know." I let out a quiet chuckle.

"I-is there even a system in SAO to make babies?" Kirito asked.

"Hmm...I haven't checked...hang on…" Yui closed her eyes for a few seconds. "Hmm…according to my data, a system like that doesn't seem to exist inside SAO...but I'm still curious as to how the process works in the real world!"

"Okay...okay, it's...uh…" Asuna frantically flailed for a bit before she thought of something. "that's right! A kiss! That's right, people kiss!"

"Oh, I see. Since you and papa kiss a lot, that meant that you would have had lots of babies, right?"

I looked away and held my laughter. Silica just sighed and looked at me disapprovingly.

"U-umm w-well, you see…" Asuna was at a loss for words.

As much as I would like to see the two of them comically squirm around in trying to tell Yui the birds and the bees, I should probably help them.

I cleared my throat. "May I have your attention, please?" The three of them looked at me. I motioned to the empty space in front of me. "Yui, can you please sit right there?"

"Yes, Onii-chan." Yui nodded and sat.

The married couple came close to me. "What are you planning?" Kirito asked.

"A little something. It worked for me and my sister. Trust me on this, alright?"

Kirito and Asuna nodded.

I took a deep breath and steeled myself before looking at Yui. "So, Yui, what exactly would you like to know?"

Yui nodded. "How are babies made?"

I nodded back. "When two people love each other romantically, and they are of the appropriate age, they produce a baby as a proof of their love. Are you satisfied with this explanation?"

She slowly shook her head. "It's explaining why they make babies, not how _._ "

"Fair enough." I acknowledged.

I took a deep breath.

"You make babies through sex." I said clearly.

Silence immediately swept the room.

Yui tilted her head in confusion.

Everybody looked at me as if monsters flew out of my mouth.

"Y-y-y-y-you…!" Asuna pointed an accusing finger towards me.

"What?"

"What are you teaching her?!"

"The most straightforward way to do so. At the very least, it's better than skirting around the topic forever."

"Isn't she too young for that?" Kirito spoke up.

"But she's asking _now_. If we keep delaying it, she'll either make her own assumptions or look it up somewhere. I don't know what she'll find on her own, so it's best to just tell her. Like I said. Trust me."

"..." The two nodded after a few moments.

I nodded back and turned my head to Yui. "I will elaborate on this later, but first, are you aware of the different forms of love?"

She nodded. "Papa and Mama love me differently compared to how they love me, and those are also different to how they love their friends and comrades."

"That makes explaining things easier to explain...so, Kirito and Asuna love each other romantically. when a male and a female love each other very much...romantically, like the love Kirito and Asuna share with each other, they have sex."

Yui tilted her head. "What is...sex?

"Sex, or sexual intercourse, is a very intimate act. A lot of people are also hesitant to talk about things pertaining to this act, especially when a young child such as yourself is the one asking the question. It's why your mom and dad are uncomfortable with elaborating this topic to you."

She nodded in understanding. "I see…but how about you, Onii-chan? Are you uncomfortable with talking to me about this topic?"

I nodded. "However, my father and mother also had this talk with me. They explained it as clearly and factually as possible. They knew that using vague words and half-answers would only make me confused." I elaborated. "If you have any more questions, now's the time to ask them."

"About...sexual intercourse...can you give me some more details…?" Yui asked. "Ah! You don't have to if it makes you feel uncomfortable."

I shook my head. "I'm fine with giving some details, but not too much, okay?" She nodded. "Well…" I took a deep breath. "You know how your mom and dad...males and females..have different...body parts, correct?" She nodded. "During intercourse, the male's...sperm swims out his body and into the female's uterus. From there, the baby will slowly grow inside their mother's body. It'll last for...I forgot how long..."

"Around ten months." Asuna spoke up.

"Thank you. Around ten months. By that time, the baby will have grown enough that it can survive without being inside their mother. The mother will go into labor, and then finally, the child is born."

"I see…" Yui nodded. "If the baby's growing inside, what are they doing in there? Is it dark? Are they scared?"

"The baby can be sucking their thumb, kicking, or even hiccupping. I'd also assume that it's pretty dark in there. Finally, as for being scared...hmmm..." I closed my eyes, trying to think of a good example. I snapped my hands as I thought of something. "Yui, can you go to Asuna and hug her?"

She nodded and walked to Asuna, wrapping her arms around her mother. Asuna, being the loving parent that she is, immediately hugged Yui back. A smile crept from both their faces."

"Yui. Close your eyes, please." I instructed. She nodded and closed them. "Is it dark?"

"Yes…"

"Are you scared? Do you feel alone?"

She shook her head. "No…" She tightened her hug on Asuna a bit. "...because mama is here. Even if I close my eyes, I know that mama is here." She said before she buried her face into Asuna's chest. "Ehehe~"

"Yui-chan…" Asuna whispered, her eyes glittering with joy. It was probably the sweetest thing Yui could do for her extremely doting parent. Kirito also came forward and joined the hug.

I waited for a few moments before I spoke up. "That's about all there is to it. Do you have any questions?"

"Hmmm…" Yui thought for a bit before she nodded.

"Ask away."

"Now that I think about it, mama and papa had sex multiple times these past few weeks. If they aren't making babies, then why were they doing it?"

Kirito and Asuna froze, their faces lighting up like a firecracker. Their mouths opened and closed like a fish.

"..." I hung my head down and squeezed the bridge of my nose with my fingers.

Yui, oblivious to the atmosphere, continued talking. "At first, I assumed that they were pretending to be pro wrestlers since Mama had a cat costume on-"

"ALRIGHTALRIGHTALIGHT!" I shouted out loud. TMI. T-M-Freaking-I. "Yui, remember what I said about it being an uncomfortable topic?"

"Oh. Right." Yui turned to Kirito and Asuna. "I'm sorry, papa, mama."

The damage had already been done. Kirito and Asuna were simply devastated. "It's alright, Yui…" They spoke in unison. Their voices were devoid of emotion, their eyes were blank, and they looked like they were staring at something in the distance.

"But you're still curious, right?" I asked. Yui nodded. I sighed. "...since it's vital for a species to make offspring to avoid extinction, the human body makes so that sex feels good. Humans as a species have evolved enough that we don't have to worry about global extinction due to lack of mating, so many people view the act as a very intimate way to show your love...as for the costume...it's just..." I really don't want to elaborate more…

"Just…?" Yui was expecting an answer.

"...sometimes...some... _stuff_...is done...to...keep...it...exciting…"

"Like costumes?"

"Yes...so...you understand, right?"

"Yes! Thank you very much, Onii-chan!"

Well, that's the end of that…"

Yui seemed satisfied with my answers and continued back to eating her meal. I sighed and drank my root beer. Silica complimented me on how I handled the situation.

As for Kirito and Asuna, I don't think there are enough Healing Crystals in Aincrad that could heal the mental damage they received upon realizing that their adoptive daughter saw them doing it.

All in all, lunch was great.

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 _ **Loading...Complete**_  
 _ **Changing Perspective: Third Person**_  
 _ *******_

There existed a mansion, hidden in the side of one of Japan's lesser-known mountains. The mansion's exterior had a modern, Western design, made out of red bricks and a blue roof. It was two stories high and about as big as an apartment complex. A large fountain stood in its front and an infinity pool was by its side.

Officially, it was owned by a wealthy, but reclusive foreigner. But what the people in Japan didn't know was that it housed one of the most wanted criminals in recent history - the one responsible for trapping 10,000 innocent people in a game of life and death.

The interior of this mansion was large and spacious but devoid of any aesthetic livery. The numerous bedrooms rooms were large but empty, except for one - the master bedroom.

That certain room was dimly lit, with only the LED lights and backlit monitors from various electronics acting as the primary light source. On the side, a window was closed and covered with a densely-linked column of blinds, preventing sunlight from permeating.

The room was filled with electronic equipment of all shapes and sizes, but their numerous wires were neatly organized and most of them were tucked out of sight.

Finally, the bed itself was not a traditional bed. It was a 'gel bed' - a specialized medical apparatus identical to the ones used by the players of SAO. Designed for patients who couldn't move, the bed was similar to hollowed-out capsule - or a casket, depending on who you asked - with a gel-like interior that had the ability to prevent infections to the skin and break down involuntarily disposed bodily wastes. A special medical gown must be worn to use this bed. An IV drip was beside the bed, connected to the person inside.

Kayaba Akihiko opened his eyes and removed the NerveGear from his head. He pulled a needle from out of his arm and he rose from his bed. He rarely brought himself out of SAO, but he made a point to check up on what was happening to him in the real world every once in a while. Rinko might be capable, but he would be a fool to completely rely on her.

He made his way to the bathroom and took a look at himself. He didn't look great. His prolonged tenure into Aincrad had left his real world body emaciated. His body was very slim, and he had grown a long beard and hair.

He turned on the sink and washed his face. He then dried himself off with a towel before took one last look in the mirror.

For a split second, what he saw when he stared at the mirror wasn't the beady-eyed, pale face of Kayaba Akihiko.

It was the scholarly and inspiring face of Heathcliff, one of the most revered paragons of SAO.

How unfortunate.

It was a shame that he had to hide his true face under such a heroic facade. As much as he was indifferent to the real world, he had become quite accustomed to his original face. It was not beneath him to admit that his unconscious desires for an idealized appearance. And it was not beneath him to admit that he was starting to lose his grasp towards the real world.

But then again, it was a small price to pay.

Even when he was just a mere child, he dreamed a castle every night. A giant castle floating in mid-air. It was made out of multiple levels, and each level had its own unique streets, forests, and grasslands that stretched throughout the horizon. One would have to use the long stairs on its side, and the very peak of the castle housed a magnificent palace. Every night, he would climb up the steps, one by one until he could reach the sky. His dreams were so vivid that he could feel the stone steps and the cool air.

But one day, he just stopped dreaming of this castle.

At first, he was glad that the dreams stopped. After all, dreams were only the result of the human brain acting freely while the human's consciousness was asleep along with their body. They were meaningless constructs. Nothing more, nothing less.

However, now that he stopped visiting this castle in his dreams, he slowly came to yearn it in his waking world. He tried to distract himself with studying, working, and spending thousands of hours playing Wizardry and many other Medieval RPGs, but it only soothed his desire for a fleeting moment before it came back stronger than before.

And now, he was living in it. When he thought about it like that, his situation didn't seem to be that bad.

He nodded and left the bathroom. He went to a desk on the side and turned on the computer, accessing the mansion's security camera records and checking the automated inventory system. It took a moment for him to verify that he still had enough IV fluids to last a long while and that nobody had trespassed into his property.

He trudged back to his bed and laid in it. He placed the NerveGear back in his head and stuck the IV needle back in his arm. "Link Start." He almost didn't recognize his own voice, given how raspy it had become from lack of use.

A light engulfed his vision, and he closed his eyes. When he opened his eyes, he had returned to Aincrad.

He stretched his limbs and opened his Player Menu, setting up his agenda for today. Nobody was suspicious of him disappearing since he established himself as a hands-off leader. The players were nearing the 75th Floor Boss room, but they're not quite there yet. It'll take them at least a couple of days. He had just finished optimizing Cardinal and deleting junk code yesterday.

That meant that he had free time to do whatever he wanted right now.

He accessed his inventory and inspected one mysterious item that he extracted from SAO's underlying code. It was a black crystal, with streaks of pulsating red marks.

He knew that Cardinal was capable of producing new items without any human assistance and that from the outside, the crystal didn't look that out of place in Aincrad, but the underlying code was fundamentally different.

This was a genuine anomaly. Further research was needed.

Speaking of anomalies, he was aware that a group of players had mysteriously found their way inside the Hollow Area. He considered dealing with them personally, but he realized who was trapped there, and he decided to leave them be, at least for now.

The Hollow Area proved to be of no further importance to him. The rogue AI unit was a point of interest, but ultimately, it failed to grasp his attention. If Kirito was the supposed hero of Sword Art Online, then he would not fall to any unexpected obstacles. And if Kirito was to fall, well…

There was no shortage of heroes that would rise up to the challenge.

His interference was not necessary.

For now, he should get to unraveling this mysterious item.

 _ *****  
Chapter End  
*****_

A/N: I didn't expect this chapter to be this long, but I had fun writing it, regardless.

I learned all about sex and stuff when I was around 11 or 12. I watched an edutainment TV show where they explained it in a mature, straightforward manner. This is just me, but I also believe that a straightforward and transparent explanation would be the best way to teach a child not only sex but other kinds of delicate subjects, like death. Like that "Goodbye, Mr. Hooper" episode in Sesame Street. Just my two cents.

I had literally finished writing this chapter before I came up with the final scene that featured Kayaba. I realized that he could interfere in Hollow Area, and since he essentially had godlike power throughout SAO, I wanted him out of the picture, so I wrote this scene.

That's all for now. Thank you very much, and have a good one.


	34. CH 31 - A Hollow Sensation

Chapter 31 - A Hollow Sensation

 _November 4, 2024_

"It's good that Yui-chan was able to fix the messaging system before we left." Asuna said.

"That's right. I was able to send a message to the Moonlit Black Cats and tell them that I was alright, and I'm gonna take some time off and party with you guys." Silica added.

"That's good." Kirito nodded before he turned towards me. "What about you, Riwet?"

I shrugged. "Solo Player. Nobody's gonna notice. You know how it is."

"Yeah, I know that feeling."

"It's a feeling that you're gonna experience again, subordinate-kun." Asuna chimed in with a cheeky smile before she turned towards me. "Besides, it's your own fault. You really should join a guild, you know."

"We've been through this a hundred times. I'm fine as a Solo Player. "Besides, if you, or Keita, or Klein need help, I help out 9 times out of ten, right?"

"Well, I guess that's true...but it's better if you officially join. Think about it. Klein-san's gonna be happy if you'd join the Fuurinkazan, and the Commander would stop pestering me about trying to recruit you."

"And if you join the Moonlit Black Cats, we'd always be together!" Silica said with a smile.

"...alright, alright. I'll think it over, but no promises." I finally replied. Having a guild to back you up is nice, as well as being able to spend time with Silica. But yeah, my stance on guilds haven't changed.

"So, before we get away from guilds," Kirito chimed in, "I heard the Army's doing some steam cleaning these days. Not a bad choice, eh?" He asked with a sly tone to his voice.

I barely kept myself from cracking a smile. I wonder how long did it take for him to piece it together?

"And speaking of the Army, I saw in the papers that most of the bad ones got rounded up and put to jail. You wouldn't know anything about it, would you?" He continued.

"I mean, it would've weird if I _wasn't_ involved in it, you know." I replied nonchalantly.

"I freaking knew it." Kirito sighed. Asuna sighed with him.

Silica didn't look surprised. Must've figured it out since she was there when Wilhelm talked to me.

"Alright, while the two of you are busy judging me, can you two tell me with a straight face that the bastard and his ilk _didn't_ deserve it?" I didn't get a reply. " _Exactly._ Besides, it's not like I killed him, or anything."

I took a moment to explain the whole situation. "Wilhelm-san called in his favor, and I did the deed. Though considering who was hunting, I really didn't have any objections. Bottom line - a massive, and hopefully, positive change in the Army, and one less bag of meat to worry about." I turned to Philia. "That's why my cursor was orange when we met. When you take out the trash, you're gonna get your hands dirty."

"I see…" Philia mused. "The Army screwed me over a while ago, so it's good to hear that."

We were inside an area named Furtive Greens. Another forest-type area, but quite different from Selvendys. Thick fog permeated the area, making it seem like it was late in the afternoon despite it being a sunny morning. It also obscured vision and decreased Scanning by quite a bit.

Interesting thing is that the fog had small orange specks of light in it, moving around like small fireflies. They didn't do much in terms of illumination but fortunately didn't have any poisonous or other negative effects.

So far, we hadn't encountered any monsters yet, but judging by the atmosphere, we'd better expect a couple of surprises.

As we went deeper into the area, our bickering slowly died down. I traded looks with Kirito and Asuna and nodded to them. Silica noticed that Pina was slightly agitated and also started checking the surroundings.

There was this subtle change in the air, like there was _something_ nearby. I've been fighting in SAO for long enough that I learned on how to refine my gut instincts and rely on them in conjunction with Scanning.

We continued slowly and cautiously. Come on...where are you hiding…?

"Something's coming from the ground!" Kirito suddenly shouted.

"Kyurururu!" Pina screeched a split second later.

The ground shook and dozens of roots burst out of the ground, lashing out towards us like whips. The roots looked unnatural, like they were artificial objects made to like roots.

We scrambled and engaged the enemies, trying our best to minimize how much damage they could deal to us. The others got off easy since they could reliably dodge attacks. I got slapped around a bit before I adapted.

We weathered the assault, and after a few moments, the tentacles retreated back into the ground. "Did we get them?" Asuna asked.

Silica shook her head. "No. Pina's still alert. We're still under attack."

And I had a hunch as to what the source was.

I drew out a Throwing Knife and locked eyes with Kirito, who drew out a Throwing Pick of his own. We nodded at each other and then threw it towards a tree. The design of the tree was similar but slightly different to the other trees beside it.

Like it was using the forest as a disguise.

Our projectiles never connected. Two roots burst from the ground and took the hit. The treant shook the leaves off its branches and up together to form two arms, which it used to uproot itself to the ground. All roots underneath the monster wrapped around into themselves and formed two bundles that acted as its feet. The top of its bark tore open in three different places, forming two 'eyes' and a gaping 'mouth'.

The monster - named Great Robot Treant - finished its transformation and let out a deep roar before it charged at us, its eyes sockets glowing with a vivid orange color.

Ladies and gentlemen, we've got ourselves a fight.

The boss clenched its hand into a fist and lunged at us. The rest of the party cleanly dodged the attack. I wanted to test its strength, so I only dodged slightly to the side and tried to deflect it.

The monster's fist grazed my glaive. It deviated slightly and hit the ground. Alright. Judging by the impact, I could probably block a head-on attack, but it'll sting a bit. "I'll do tanking duty!" I shouted, shifting my stance to a more defensive one.

"Gotcha!" Kirito replied.

"Pina! On Riwet!" Silica commanded her. The dragon chirped in affirmative and flew towards me.

Comparing my stat build to the others, I dealt the least damage per second, but I had significantly better defensive options. I steeled myself and stood my ground, purely focusing on drawing the monster's attention and deflecting its attacks while the others unleashed their attacks on the monster's flank. Every time it lost its attention towards me, I'd dart in and gave it a swift kick. My Battle Healing combined with Pina's Healing Breath made tanking duty a bit less dangerous.

And man, they're really tearing into this boss. Slowly but surely, bits of wood started to chip off, revealing its metallic interior. At the rate that they're going, the boss would be defeated in a few moment's time.

If only it was so easy.

Once the treant was in the red zone, it let out a loud roar and wildly flailed around. Every single wooden bit was shaken off completely, making it look less of a treant and more of a treant-shaped Golem. "Look out! It's enraged!" Kirito shouted.

The monster fixed its 'eyes' on me and lunged at an incredible speed. I was able to dodge the punch, but its other hand scooped me up and squeezed me tight. I gritted my teeth as I felt a tremendous amount of pressure being applied to my body. The impact made me lose my grip on Caerulus.

"RIWET!" Silica screamed worriedly.

The party rushed the monster, but it held me out towards them, using me as a meat shield as it attacked them with its other arm.

"That's...enough!" I was able to slip my left arm free. "Silica! Throw it to my hand!" I shouted to her as I pointed to Caerulus.

Silica took one hesitant glance before she nodded and picked my glaive up. "Get ready!" She wound back and hurled it towards my general direction. Fortunately, I was able to catch it.

With a sharp breath, I plunged Caerulus deep into the treant's hand, twisting my glaive before violently ripping it out. The monster wildly flailed its arm before it loosened its grip and flung me away.

The throw was fast enough that I went through a small tree and skipped over the ground multiple times before I stopped.

"Riwet!" I could hear the guys from the distance.

"I'm...alright…!" I picked myself up and shook off the pain. "H-holy shit..!" I gasped when I realized that I was thrown towards a cliff. If I hadn't stopped sooner, I'd have fallen into it.

I looked back at the battle. The treant still had a bit of HP left. I glanced at Kirito and nodded, wordlessly telling him that I'd sneak up and attack its rear. Kirito nodded back and relayed the message to the others.

Philia rushed in first, pulling out a Throwing Pick and hurling it towards the treant. "Hmph." She smiled as she dodged a blow from the monster, successfully drawing its attention.

"Eat this!" Kirito roared, bringing his twin Elucidators to bear. With a couple of seconds, the treant was covered by 12 red slash marks.

"Switch!" Asuna darted in front of Kirito, unleashing a powerful Weapon Skill of her own that decorated the monster with 8 small holes.

"Haaa!" Silica shouted as she barreled down towards the monster. When she was almost in range, the monster recovered from the earlier assault and lashed out with a low sweep. Fortunately, Silica had anticipated the attack. She leaped and flipped backward, attacking and evading at the same time with a beautiful somersault kick. As soon as she landed, she composed herself and took a stance. "Pina!"

"Kyururu!" Pina flew and blasted the treant with a stream of debilitating bubbles. The monster reeled back, unable to move.

"...!" I sprinted and activate Pale Derision on the monster's back.

"Seiya!" Silica's Draconic Assault hit simultaneously with my Weapon Skill.

The treant let out one final roar before it hunched over, its HP fully depleted.

"Did we get it?" Asuna said. "...its HP's at zero, but it's not disintegrating..."

"Wait...look." I said as I nodded towards the treant. "It's starting to glow."

"What's happening to it...?"

"Kyururu! Kyururu!" Pina roared frantically.

Silica's eyes widened. "IT'S GOING TO EXPLODE! RUN!"

We turned back and hauled ass. Thanks to their stats, the others were already way in front and away from the blast radius. After a few seconds, I heard an explosion coming from behind me and impact me lose my footing.

The ground cracked and started crumbling. I hurriedly picked myself up and ran like hell.

"Riwet!" Silica shouted. "Come on!"

I gritted my teeth and kept running while the ground was falling from under me. Before the ground completely crumbled, I took a leap of faith and stretched my hand out. Silica stretched her hand out to try and catch me.

I was too far, and our hands didn't reach. I slammed head-first into the side of the cliff and started rolling down the mountain. I recovered from the impact just in time to grab onto one of the mountain's crest.

"Riwet! Are you alright!?" I heard Kirito's voice from up high.

"I'm alright!" I gathered myself and looked up. The top of the cliff was obscured by the thick mist, but I could vaguely see them. Man, they're way up there, alright.

I tried climbing it, but I couldn't go very far before I slid down to where I was. Aside from the crest that I stood on, the cliff was unnaturally smooth. There were no cracks that I could grab on to.

"The side of the mountain's too slippery! This isn't going anywhere!" I shouted. "I'm gonna have to work my way down and meet up with you guys later!"

"Should we come down there?!"

I was about to reply in negative, but the crest that I was standing on started falling apart. "Shit!"

"Riwet! What's happening?!" Silica shouted worriedly.

"It's crumbling apart! It's too risky for you guys to jump down! Don't worry about me! Just go to the objective! I'll meet you there!"

"Riwet, Wa-" I didn't have the chance to hear their reply. I shifted my focus to just running toward a safe space. I took a leap down to another crest, but that also started to fall under my own weight. I jumped down a couple more times before I found a larger crest that was able to support me.

"SILICA!...KIRITO!...GUYS, CAN YOU HEAR ME?!" I looked up and shouted at the top of my lungs. No response. I had gone too far down the mountain.

I sighed and continued at a slower pace. After some careful jumps - and the occasional falling and sliding off, I finally made my way down. Damn, the mist here was even thicker.

Once I fully climbed down the mountain, I opened my Player Menu and looked at the map. No Data. What a surprise.

Ugh. How did I get into this predicament?

I heard a slight noise from behind. I spun around and pointed my glaive.

"Whoa! Hey, easy there, fella!"

"...hello." I lowered my weapon and greeted him. Was he another trapped player, or one of the weird ones. I told Yui about them earlier, but she was a bit busy at that time, so she wasn't able to take a look at it. "Sorry. Just got off from a scuffle."

"Nah. Don't worry about it."

I spent a moment to observe him. He wore a dark yellow cloak, yellow top with a light metal chest plate, brown pants and boots, black fingerless gloves, and a gray beanie. He had blue eyes and dark yellow hair. A dagger was slung at his waist.

He looked to be the swift and stealthy kind, like Philia. And just like Philia, his clothing left a bit more to be desired. In this area, yellow stood out like a sore thumb. These guys should invent SAO's equivalent of OctoCamo, or at least bring a change of clothes that matched the environment.

"So, are you just out here alone?" He asked.

"No. I got separated from my party. What about you?"

"Haha...I have a party, but I came alone today." He scratched his cheek. "I...kinda did a dumb, so I'm trying to find a rare item as a peace offering."

"Hm...got any experience playing solo?"

"...nope."

"..."

"I mean, I can spot a treasure chest from far away. Also, I can hide and run away really fast!"

"That's...an interesting combination of skills."

"Yeah...hey, you wanna hang around a bit? I've got some info on a rare chest nearby. It's guarded, and I think I can sneak by it, but I think it's more convenient with someone watching your back. Come on, it'll be fun! We can divvy up the loot!"

"...I need a minute to think."

He's definitely one of the weird ones. The way he acted normally even though we were in the Hollow Area was a dead giveaway. Despite that, I've got a bad feeling that this guy's gonna get into big trouble. But maybe not? Sure, he seemed a bit eccentric, but the eccentric ones are the ones who are usually the most powerful.

I don't feel it in this guy, though.

On the flip side of things, I also don't feel that he's a bandit that's leading me to a trap.

"...alright. I'll tag along with you. Let's finish this quick, and get home safe." I finally said.

He grinned. "Awesome. You won't regret this."

Even if I didn't help him, I wouldn't know where to start. It's best to keep this guy safe. The guys would probably also hate me if they found out that I ditched a guy in a dangerous place just because it was convenient to do so. "Uh, before we go, I realized that we haven't introduced ourselves yet." I straightened up and smiled. "My name is Riwet. Nice to meet you."

"Oh yeah. Haha, how the heck did we forget that?"

He flashed a confident grin and pointed at himself with his thumb.

"Name's Ducker! Pleased to meet you!"

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Changing Perspective - Third Person  
****_

Players who had the courage to venture out of the Starting City were met with a beautiful, but hostile world, filled with all sorts of monsters that had their own ways to hurt them. They had to adapt, or die trying. As such, experienced players had seen their fair share of enemies

However, for the three Clearers and the Treasure Hunter present in the Hollow Area, not one of them could say that they had dealt with exploding robot monsters before.

The area was filled with robotic facsimiles of traditional monsters, and all of them had some form of self-destructive desperation attack when they were about to die. They would gain a significant buff to movement speed and charged at the party, exploding in a vivid orange color.

Just to test it out, Kirito deliberately placed himself within the range of an explosion. It shaved off a tenth of his health. Using that as a reference, The party was certain that a direct hit from that attack would instantly shave off half of their HP. And if, heaven forbid, it was a critical hit…

Fortunately, the party possessed the appropriate speed to comfortably dodge these attacks. Well, most of the party, anyways.

Silica sighed and looked into the distance. Pina perched on her shoulder. "Kyururu…." The dragon trilled softly.

Asuna turned to her side where Silica was. "Don't worry, you two. Riwet-kun will be just fine."

"I know that...but it's hard not to worry…"

"Riwet's been there ever since the beginning. He'll know how to handle with a bunch of exploding bugs." Kirito assured her.

The party continued forward, carefully fighting the enemies that stood in their way. Initially, their progress was slow since they'd rather be safe than fast.

Fortunately, they found a backup of their own.

"Derya!" Strea let out a roar and brought her massive greatsword down towards an insect-type monster. The enemy was simply obliterated with no opportunity to activate its desperation attack.

"You're really strong." Kirito complimented.

"Ehehe. Thank you." Strea smiled at him. "You ain't half bad yourself, you know!"

The four of them were venturing into the forest when Kirito sensed Strea's presence. The lavender-haired girl came out of her hiding spot and introduced herself. They were suspicious that she was being a bit too friendly, but they let her tag along. Her sheer strength proved to be a significant help to them since she could instantly cull an almost dead monster with a single hit from her massive Greatsword.

"I've never seen anyone move as fast as you do while holding a Greatsword that big." Kirito grinned."

Strea grinned. "Well, I sacrificed my other stats for this. I can grind monsters to dust, but my blocking must be on point."

"That's awesome. Impractical in a handful of cases, but awesome nonetheless."

Kirito was hitting it off with Strea, the two of them happily chatting away about their player builds and methods of engagement. Meanwhile, the other three girls were on the sidelines. Philia was slightly wary of their new party member, but she appreciated the help. Silica was still a bit unsure, but she was starting to warm up to Strea. She was kind, outgoing, confident, powerful, busty...Strea had a lot of things Silica was striving to have. She'd be lying if she wasn't a little jealous, but a bigger part of her wanted her as a friend.

As long as she won't flirt with Riwet.

As for Asuna, she was sulking. She didn't like that she'd get insecure whenever a girl would talk to Kirito. She shouldn't think like that. Kirito had outcasted himself to save others. He had spent all this time fighting alone that Asuna was afraid he'd have forgotten to socialize with others. Any form of interaction with another human being that didn't involve vitriol was a welcome change.

She looked down and took a deep breath. She needed to grow up. Like what Riwet had said earlier, there's caring for someone, and there's smothering someone with your affection. She should grow up and not give the stink eye to every person that was friendly to him-

Asuna heard some commotion and looked up. She was treated to the sight of Strea pressing her breasts on Kirito's.

 _All bets are off._

Asuna approached them and cleared her throat. "Kirito-kun. What do you think you're doing?" She asked them calmly.

"A-Asuna! T-this isn't what it looks like! I-I tripped and she caught me!"

"Heeh~ I see, I see~ the old 'she tripped' trick."

"Ooh, ooh, Asuna! We were just talking about you!" Strea chimed in.

"About me?"

"Yeah! You and Kirito fight so well together! I'm really amazed how you and Kirito can adjust and complement each other. What's your secret?"

"...eh?" Asuna found herself at a loss for words. Just like what Silica had said to her, the lavender-haired girl had a knack of catching people off guard.

Strea came closer and held Asuna's hand. "I've been playing solo ever since I started, so I can't boast being able to work with others as well you two do. It also gets pretty lonely out there. If you have any free time, we should hang out have fun! What you say?"

Asuna looked at her for a second before she smiled back. She might be a bit mischievous, but Asuna felt that she was also genuinely friendly. "I'd like that, too. But we have a person to find. Let's get moving and find Riwet-kun soon. Hopefully, he's keeping himself safe..."

However, as they nodded to each other and started to walk, the three who knew him for a long time had one thought in their mind.

 _No, he probably isn't_.

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 _ **Changing Perspective: Riwet**_  
 _ *******_

Well, this quite a bit dangerous, if I do say so myself. Freaking exploding bastards. I was only barely fast enough to dodge them, so I had to be on point when it happened. It was easier said than done, so for every enemy I faced, I'd lose about 5% of my HP. To be fair, it wasn't a lot, but that can't be said for how many enemies were in this area.

Good thing that Ducker's freaking efficient at dealing with them.

When the monsters started to charge towards us, Ducker would Throw something at them, diverting their attention away from me and towards him. When the monsters were close and about to explode, he'd dash away and be safe from the explosion.

Speed was definitely his forte, and coincidentally was the easiest way to deal with them. Meaning that my party's having an easier time compared to me.

"Whew. Good work, Riwet!" Ducker said, wiping the sweat from his brow.

"And you as well."

"See? Told you running would be useful."

I shrugged. "I didn't say it wasn't." Not gonna lie, Ducker was making it look easy, and at the same time, making my job easier as well. "You look a bit winded. Let's take it easy for a bit, yeah?"

We spent the next few minutes strolling and letting him catch his breath. "So, you out here a lot?" I asked, breaking the silence.

Ducker tilted his head. "What do you mean?"

"Like, this place? It's pretty far off the beaten path, right?" I refrained from directly stating what was wrong with the whole situation. With all the unusual things that I observed from him, there's a chance that he's got a couple of screws loose. I'm afraid that he might flip out completely. I'll just ask a couple of questions and see how he viewed the world.

"Well, it's not that really far off from the hideo-oh crap." His eyes widened and he let out a nervous chuckle. "A-ahaha! Pretend that you didn't hear that, okay?"

"Alright. Just make sure I get my share of the chest, yeah?"

"Thanks."

"Anyway, back to the topic...anything unusual around here?

"Well, you've already seen the exploding bugs and treants. That's pretty much all that you need to look out for."

"Alright. Good to know."

"Though...there is something…" He paused for a second and stopped walking. He stared at the empty space and frowned.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"No, no, no. It's just...you ever...you know, dream that you died?"

"Yeah, back when during the early days of SAO. Thankfully, I haven't had that dream in a while."

"Do you remember the dream? What did you feel after you woke up?"

"I might have remembered back then, but I've forgotten it. After I woke up, I'd feel startled and confused...and also a bit scared."

"See that's the thing. I don't remember squat about my dream, even if it happened yesterday. But I was sure that I died in it. And when I wake up, I don't feel afraid. I feel..angry. Like...I felt like I died in a very stupid way. It makes me want to do more. Train more. Fight more…"

"Hmm…" I took a moment to think of the right words to say. "...in my opinion, we dream because our brain wants us to be prepared when something similar happens in the waking world. Like how humans in the Stone Age must've dreamt about being freezing up and being mauled by a bear so that they won't freeze up when they see one. Just like how your nightmare motivated you to become stronger, even if you don't remember it."

"...you know, that actually makes a lot of sense."

"Just don't overdo it, okay? It'll make your dreams come true, in a _very bad_ way."

Ducker grinned. "Noted. Thanks for the pep talk, Riwet."

"No problem."

"What about you Riwet?"

"What about me?"

"You're a Solo Player, right? What's it like?"

"It's alright. Peaceful and quiet. A bit tricky sometimes, but you get used to it. You're fighting alone, with only your thoughts as company, so you'll spend quite a bit of time just thinking of random stuff."

"Don't you feel lonely, being alone all the time?"

"Well, I'm not alone _all_ the time. I've got a couple of good friends, and I help them out once in a while."

"Still, I still can't imagine fighting all by yourself for a very long time."

I shrugged. "Different strokes for different folks. I don't have a specific reason why I play alone. It just works for me."

"Well, that's fine. Just don't forget to hang out with your friends. If it was me, I'd get an earful from my friends if I go somewhere alone for too long."

"Will do. Let's finish this quick so you won't get an earful." And also so I could move on and get things done.

After a few more minutes of walking, we finally reached the spot. It was a clearing tucked in one corner of the area. There was rubble peppered around the clearing. Seemed that it used to be some kind of structure that fell into ruin.

At the center of the clearing was a chest, guarded by two golem-type monsters. "Is that it?" I nodded toward the chest.

"Yes, it is."

Alright, so, how are we gonna do this? The rubble could theoretically conceal us, but stealth wasn't really my forte. We could only safely retreat towards the path we came from. We can cut through the surrounding forest, but I'd avoid it if possible. The trees were densely packed and filled with all sorts of overgrowth that'd slow us down and trip us up. Not to mention all the monsters hidden behind all that shrubbery...

"For me, we have two options. We either beat the golems, or I distract them while you sneak in and grab the chest."

Ducker observed the two monsters. "I dunno about fighting them. They look pretty tough. I'd say we do Option 2."

"Problem with the second one is that you'll be in the middle of no man's land if I failed to distract them."

"Don't worry about it. I'll be in and out in a flash. Come on. You've seen my moves."

"Are you sure about this?"

"Totally."

"...alright. Just bail out when it gets sketchy, yeah?"

Ducker gave a thumbs up before he slid to the side and hid on a piece of rubble. I nodded to him and walked towards the two monsters. I drew two Throwing Knives and hurled it towards the two monsters. I got their attention and they started their way towards me.

Alright. So far so good. I hung back and let the monsters come to me while Ducker inched towards the treasure

One of the golems raised its arms and punched in my direction. I darted to the side and dodged it.

The hell...? The attack looked powerful, but the ground barely cracked. I waited for another attack to come and deflected it easily. I countered with an attack of my own, and my glaive cut through its arm like it was paper.

I took a hard look at the two golems. There's something off about. Visually, they're intimidating, and my Scanning showed that they hit hard. But my gut instinct was telling me that they weren't a threat, and the real threat's out there, somewhere.

...

...what...?

...

 _Shit_.

It was too freaking easy not because I was strong, but because I was fighting a damn decoy.

"Ducker! It's a tra-" I shouted, but I was too late.

Ducker opened the chest, and an alarm blared. Enemies started to rapidly spawn around the area.

Dark Dwarf Miners and Mineral Elementals. Or more accurately, robots made to look like them.

Shit.

"Ducker! Over here!" I quickly dislegged the two golems and rushed towards him. "Gh!" I almost fell over when one of the miners threw their pickaxe at me. The pointy end of the pickaxe was embedded deep into my right shoulder.

"TAKE THIS!" Ducker shouted as he ran towards me and unleashed a Weapon Skill at a nearby monster." Riwet! You alright!?" Ducker frantically yelled.

I grimaced and pulled the pickaxe out of my back. "I am…but we won't be for long."

"I'm really sorry about this, Riwet!" He shouted. "I Scanned the chest three times and I didn't find any traps!"

"Well, it's too late now! Just focus on surviving!" I gritted my teeth and raised my glaive. The monsters had us surrounded.

This is gonna suck.

All of a sudden, two figures came in and blew the surrounding monsters back.

It was Kirito and Silica

"Riwet-kun!" I heard Asuna's voice from behind me. I turned my head for a second and saw that she and Philia weren't far off.

"Yo, Riwet!" Strea, too?

"Riwet! Your friends came at a perfect time!" Ducker let out a relieved smile.

"...Ducker?" Kirito gasped. He looked like he'd seen a ghost.

"Wait, you know each o-" I got cut off by the monsters attacking. "Let's talk about this later! We've got some small fry to cook."

The fight that would've taken quite a while was taken care of without a damn hitch. As always, I was really amazed by how destructive my buddies were. Especially Kirito. Out of our group, Kirito had the highest kill count, bar none. He looked like he was really into it.

The last monster croaked and fell, and the alarm stopped blaring.

"Whew…Your friends sure came at a perfect time, Riwet!" Ducker let out a relieved sigh.

"Ducker…" Kirito called out.

Ducker turned to look at Kirito and he tilted his head. "You look familiar. Do I know you?"

"...what?"

"Hang on, what time is it…?...Ah crap, I'm late!" Ducker turned back towards me and quickly traded me a handful of items. "Well, thanks for helping me out, Riwet! I owe you one!"

"Wait!" I tried to stop him, but he was too fast.

When he was a good distance away, Ducker turned around and faced us. "Hey, Swordsman in Black-san! I can't help but feel that I know you. What do you say we hang out sometime?!"

Kirito's face twitched for a split second. He regained his composure and forced a smile towards Ducker.

Ducker grinned and waved back before he continued walking away.

"Do you know who that was?" I asked.

Kirito's face darkened. "...Ducker. Treasure Hunter. Former Moonlit Black Cats Guild Member. I saw him die." He replied solemnly.

"...huh..." I sighed. "I would've been surprised had I not seen one earlier."

"Really? You saw another one?"

"...when we were making our way towards the chest, we got separated for a couple of minutes. I walked around to try and find him when I spotted a pair of players." I scowled. "Remember before we headed out to this place? Philia warned us about _them._ Orange players. Well, the two of them had the Laughing Coffin icon on their clothes...and just like Ducker, both of them were supposed to be dead."

He was stunned speechless. "What?"

"I stalked them for a bit. The two of them were walking around when they got caught in a trap that triggered a wave of monsters towards them. They barely made it out…"

"...but?" Asuna asked cautiously.

"...I made sure that they won't be a problem anymore." I replied and looked away.

I turned to the direction where Strea happened to stand. "Strea-san?" I asked. She looked extremely pale.

"..." She stared blankly at me like she didn't comprehend what I just said.

"Strea." Asuna said, a bit more forcefully.

"..eh?" She finally responded, turning her head to look at Asuna. "Were you talking to me?"

"Yes. Is everything alright? You look a bit out of sorts."

She shook her head. "Oh, I'm fine. I just...need to go somewhere. See you later!" She turned around and ran.

"Strea, wait!" Asuna shouted, but Strea had already disappeared.

Kirito gritted his teeth. "What the _hell_ is happening here…?"

I shook my head. "I have no goddamn clue, but I sure hope that Yui has some answers."

 _ *****  
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*****_

Yui bowed her head low. "I'm sorry that I didn't tell you about the exploding monsters! I thought I collated all the information, but…"

Kirito and Asuna shook their heads. "It's alright, Yui. Unexpected situations are par for the course of being a Clearer." Kirito said to her.

"So, this is not to blame you, but what happened, Yui? All you told us was the mist, and the robot monsters. Was the information on the Main Console wrong?" I spoke up.

Yui turned her head towards me. "No. The Main Console's information was accurate. However, when you collected the first two items flawlessly, Cardinal adjust the Hollow Area's difficulty to give a better challenge."

"That sounds…" I started.

"Awesome?" Kirito chimed in.

"Yeah, but a damn pain in the neck as well."

"If it's any consolation, the monsters are now programmed to drop rare items twice as frequently." Yui added. "And the items are safe to sell to NPC vendors in Aincrad, as well."

Kirito grinned. "Now _that's_ awesome."

I grinned with him. "Heck yeah."

Asuna sighed. "Is violence and loot the only thing you two brutes care about?"

"No. Food is nice, too." Kirito responded with a carefree tone.

"So is root beer." I got your back.

Asuna and Silica simultaneously rubbed their temples. It's good to know that your team is in sync.

I turned to Yui. "So, before we go off the rails, there's something I want you to look into."

"What is it?"

"Aside from the weird people that are in this area, we also encountered players that are supposed to be dead. Do you know what's happening?"

"Yes...I do." Yui took a deep breath. "Those people are AI."

"...what?"

"They're not an AI like me. They are fundamentally different." She took a deep breath. "I found a technical report about them hidden in the archives. Cardinal observes, collates, and processes information about the players, and then tries to recreate them in the Hollow Area. At the point of generation, the recreation of physical characteristics have 100% accuracy, and recreation of mental characteristics like personality and attack tendencies are around 80%. In terms of combat ability, their level is adjusted to be a bit below that of an average Clearer."

"So basically, they're the equivalent of ghost data?" I asked.

She shook her head. "Not quite. The purpose of ghost data is to record player patterns and match them against other opponents. Hollows are made specifically to test the beta features of the Hollow Area. it also replicates the data of both living and dead players, so Cardinal and SAO's developers found the term 'Hollows' to be more fitting."

"Hollows…" Silica muttered.

"What's the criteria on having a Hollow created in your image?"

Yui shook her head. "The system is set for indiscriminate creation."

A grim thought entered my mind. "...so, is everyone in here real players or not?"

The group turned silent, and it persisted for a moment before Yui shook her head. "I'm sorry. I can't check."

"...what? Shouldn't there be a device that you can point at someone, or like a console that keeps track of them?"

"Such a device doesn't exist, and the console that handles Hollows is on a different location."

"Isn't it more convenient if you have a central hub for everything, especially if it's in the Administration Area?"

"That may be the case for players and developers, but Cardinal doesn't need physical interfaces. Since Cardinal made it, my speculation is that it isolated the system just in case it corrupts something. Fortunately, in the event that a player enters the Hollow Area, the Hollow that replicated that specific player would be immediately rendered unconscious and forcefully teleported to the place where they produce the Hollows. So, we can be sure that nobody here is a Hollow."

"That's good to know, but that's kinda harsh, don't you think?"

She nodded. "For what it's worth, they respawn after the players aren't in the Hollow Area anymore."

"...Hollows spend their waking days as a guinea pig, and when someone else enters their world, they get taken away…" Asuna said in a somber tone.

"...so, in addition to turning the difficulty up a couple to notches, we'll have a chance of seeing familiar faces along the way, both good _and_ bad. And _on top of that,_ we have to keep our eyes open for real players who are forcefully teleported here." Kirito summated before squeezing his temples with his hands. "As if we don't have enough things to worry about…"

"Even so, I think we can figure it out ourselves." I spoke up. "Hollows act weird. Some little tells here and there, but the biggest tell is that they act like there's nothing wrong with the whole situation. They're in a place where they can't teleport out and send messages, but they just mosey on like it's business as usual."

"That, and if they're already deceased…" Kirito added.

"Hollows are also not allowed to go to Aincrad proper. The system forbids it. If they use that Teleport Gate, it'll restrict them." Yui concluded.

"That's good. So there's not gonna be an extinction-level event where doppelgangers invade Aincrad..." Kirito took a deep breath and nodded. "In any case, we've collected half of the items we need to go back. Let's take a break and go for the next one."

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I sat alone on one side of the Administration Area. My Player Menu was open, and I was looking at the stuff that Ducker gave me. Nothing in particular that I or the rest of the party could use, but Yui told me that they would be safe to sell in Aincrad proper.

So, we've got quite the task at hand. Dynamic difficulty on top of those Hollows. In any case, there's worse places to be in. And I'd be lying if I wasn't a bit excited of what we could find in here.

"Hey." Silica approached me.

I closed my Player Menu and looked up. "Hey." I replied. "What's up?"

She took a seat beside me. "I didn't know that the Moonlit Black Cats had a previous member. I thought it was just them."

"Actually, they had two previous members. Ducker and Kirito."

"Really? Kirito-san was once a member of the Cats?"

I nodded. "Now that I think about it, it's probably why Kirito left the Cats. Judging by how he reacted earlier, he probably felt that it was his fault that Ducker died. You know how he is."

"...I see…" She went silent and leaned her head toward my shoulder.

"Silica?"

"I'm fine...just…" She trailed off.

"Just?"

"...after we found you and made sure that you were safe, I was getting kinda excited about exploring this Hollow Area. Fighting monsters and getting stronger with you and the others...but even this place wasn't without other people that will hurt you. I know that they're only copies and not real people, but when I think about having to fight them…" She trailed off.

I placed my right hand over hers and my left hand on her cheek. "...I can't say for sure if we'll ever have to fight them, but in the worst case scenario, defend yourself. Do everything you can to keep yourself safe."

"I...I don't know if I can do that. I'll end up hurting them…"

"Then think of the people you're going to leave behind if you failed to protect yourself. Kirito and Asuna's going to lose a good friend, Pina's going to lose her beloved master, and I'll probably end up becoming worse than a red player. Do it for us, okay?"

She went quiet for a moment before she looked up and nodded, her expression resolute. "...alright."

I smiled and patted her head. "Attagirl. And don't worry too much about it. I'll be there for you. I'll cut off their legs and we can run away. I'm all about letting you be independent and experience all sorts of new things, but this one's a special case. I've got your back on this one."

She returned my gesture. "Thank you, Riwet. And since you're there protecting me, I'll watch your back, as well."

"Now we're talking." I stood up and held my hand out. "That's enough real talk for today. What do you say we go have some fun with the others?"

She took my hand and hoisted herself up. "Sounds like a plan."

 _ *****  
Loading...Complete  
Changing Perspective: Third Person  
*****_

"Get away from me! I want nothing to do with you!" Philia shouted and pointed with her Knife, desperately trying to keep her hands from shaking

"Oh, come on! Don't be like that!" The person replied jovially. He wore a dark, hooded poncho that covered him down to his knees. A knife resembling an oversized kitchen knife hung from his waist. He was acting friendly, but he had a rough, intimidating voice.

"I mean it. Leave me alone!"

The hooded person reached out with his hand. Philia backed away and glared at him. He pulled his hand back and sighed. "

"No! I-I'm not a murderer!"

The hooded person lifted his head up slightly, enough that Philia could see that he was grinning from ear to ear. "Are you sure about that?" He cooed with a knowing smile.

"What are you-"

"After all, _I know what you did._ "

"...!" Philia woke up with a start. She fervently scanned the surroundings around her. She took a relieved sigh once she realized that she was in the safe zone of the Administration Area.

 _A dream..._ she muttered. The exchange happened three days before she met Riwet. The hooded stranger's words haunted her, creeping up to her subconscious when all she wanted was a moment of respite.

The Treasure Hunter in blue looked at the sea of codes swirling beyond the Administration Area's glass window, trying to take her mind off of her dream. She heard movement from her side and saw that Asuna was coming over to her. "Can I sit beside you, Philia?" Asuna asked.

Philia smiled and nodded. She came at a good time.

"So, how are you holding up?"

"I'm doing well, more or less. How about you?"

"I'm doing fine as well." She took a moment to take in the scenery. "Philia, when Riwet-kun introduced you to us, he said that you've been trapped here longer than him."

Philia nodded. "...it was tough. I didn't know what to expect from the monsters. I didn't find any safe zones so I couldn't afford to let myself sleep properly. The players I met were either apathetic and wanted nothing to do with me, or they wanted nothing more than to hurt me."

"It must have been rough for you. But don't worry. You're not alone anymore. We're all here for you. Me, Kirito-kun, Silica-chan, Yui-chan, and Riwet-kun."

 _Yeah, right._ Philia unconsciously thought at the mention of Riwet's name.

Asuna tilted her head. "Is there something wrong, Philia?"

"O-oh. I-it's nothing."

A moment passed before Asuna narrowed her eyes. "Did Riwet-kun do something?"

"Well…"

"It's okay. You can tell me."

Philia sighed. "I was running from some criminal players when he suddenly teleported in front of me...he had the orange cursor and I attacked him." She stroked her chin. "He reacted violently, to say the least." She briefly summarized what happened after that.

Asuna lowered her head and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Why am I not surprised…" She sighed and looked back at Philia with a smile. "Well, how do I say this...he isn't one to shy away from those kinds of solutions, but he's a good person."

"It's okay. I know that he's a good person. Otherwise, he wouldn't have spared me and kept me safe from the monsters while I was knocked out."

They heard a slight commotion and turned around. Kirito struck a pose - his right hand on his hip and his left hand cradling his head. Riwet was right in front of him, heaving what appeared to be a large paper fan. The movement of the fan sent air towards Kirito, making his jet-black cape billow and flow. On the side, Yui clapped her hands excitedly. Silica was beside her with an unamused but still happy look on her face.

"So cool…" Philia heard Asuna mutter. Asuna realized that she voiced her thoughts out."A-ahaha! I-it's nothing! Come on. Let's join in on the fun." She stood up and held a hand out to Philia.

Philia smiled and took it. They smiled at each other, and then they both started to walked back to the group.

"Hey, Asuna…" Philia unconsciously called out to her.

"What is it, Philia?"

"I…" Philia gritted her teeth. _Should I tell her?_ She thought. A moment passed before she shook her head and smiled. "It's nothing."

Asuna clearly saw that Philia was troubled, but she decided to let it go for now. "I see...well, if you're in the mood to talk, we're right here." She said with a caring smile.

"Thank you, Asuna." They nodded to each other and walked back to the group.

That's right. Within the short time she knew her, Asuna became a close friend.

Which was why it was in Philia's best interest to keep her away from all of this.

There were many worries that still ate at Philia, but for now, she forced all her thoughts away and enjoyed this brief respite.

 _ *****  
Chapter End  
*****_

A/N: I am disappointed in myself. This took _way too long._ I can provide a litany of excuses, but I'll just shut up and work on the next one.

That's all for now. Thank you very much, and have a good one.


	35. CH 32 - Witch Time

CH 32 - Witch Time

"Perfect weather for a nap, don't you think?" Kirito asked.

"That's right." Asuna replied, a nostalgic smile creeping on her face.

I looked up. The sun was shining bright, but the air was slightly cool. The sky was dyed blue, and the absence of clouds made sure that the weather wouldn't change anytime soon. A breath of fresh air compared to the last area we went through.

"I dunno about napping, but…ain't a bad time to crack open a cold one." I opened my player menu and took out my drink. It was a transparent glass flask filled with root beer. The bottom of the flask had a separate compartment that contained Eternal Ice - ice that wouldn't melt unless exposed to really hot temperature - that kept the contents of the main compartment nice and cool. I held it to my mouth and took a swig. "...ah, perfect."

"~" Walking beside me, Silica smiled and looked at the sky. A slight gust made her hair sway, and she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.

Cute, as always.

"Oh, I know! Instead of napping, how about a picnic? If we ever find a safe zone in the Hollow Area that's set outside, let's bring Yui-chan with us." Asuna suggested.

"Sounds like a plan." Kirito grinned.

"Count me in." I chimed in.

"Me too!" Silica said.

Asuna turned to Phila. "Do you want to come too, Philia?"

"...if it's okay…" Philia mumbled and nodded with a slight smile.

"Then it's decided."

We were at a part of the Selvendys Sea of Trees Area, quite a ways away from where I first met Philia. Other than the trees bearing some kind of pink, apple-sized fruits, the place wasn't anything different from a normal Forest Area.

Well, except for one thing.

"That's the location, right?" Silica pointed toward the sole structure on the horizon. It was a black monolith, but it had neon purple lines that brightened and dimmed like it was a breathing.

I opened my Player Menu to check. "Yup."

"It sticks out like a sore thumb, doesn't it?"

"Meaning there's probably traps littering the place if they made its location that obvious."

"Pina, can you do a wide scan?" Silica asked her companion.

"Kyururu!" Pina chirped in affirmative and flew a short distance above. After a few moments, she hovered back down and let out a string of trills and chirps. Judging by her intonations and body language…

"We're safe for now. She didn't detect any traps close by." I said. They silently looked at me. "What?"

"You can understand what Pina was saying, Riwet-kun?" Asuna asked. "That's quite impressive."

I shrugged. "I've been around her long enough so I'm bound to pick up a thing or two." I took two pieces of peanut out and used it to grab the dragon's attention. "Good work. Catch!" I hurled it upward, the peanuts separating and falling into their own separate trajectories.

"Kyururu!" Pina skillfully caught the two peanuts in one swoop and even struck a pose with her facing us with her wings spread wide.

I gave a brief applause. The others followed suit.

"Hey, Riwet-kun, Silica-chan, does Pina ever get lonely?" Asuna asked us.

"Hmm...I don't really know." SIlica replied. "I'm always here for her, just like how she's always there for me, but…"

"She pouts at me if I don't give her peanuts every once in a while, but yeah, she's usually happy to be here." I chimed in to try and lighten the subject.

"I see...then, Riwet-kun, if you can understand her it to that degree, it means that you have the potential to be a Beast Tamer, yourself. Wouldn't it be a good idea tame a beast for yourself so that Pina will have someone to play with?

Pina hurriedly perched onto my head. "Kyururu! Kyururu!" She trilled indignantly.

I let out a chuckle. "I'm not really interested in dealing with other beasts aside from her. And besides, this little girl ain't too keen on sharing, as you can see here."

Asuna let out a smile. "I'm sorry I misunderstood you, Pina-chan. I'll make some treats as an apology. I'll also use your favorite peanuts as part of the ingredients!"

Pina's demeanor immediately changed. "Kyururu! Kyurururu!" The little dragon flew to Asuna's shoulder and nuzzled her head into Asuna's cheek.

"Wah! That tickles! Ehehe!" Asuna giggled and patted Pina's head.

"Well, if there's one thing that'll make Pina happy, it's the promise of food."

Asuna grinned. "Oh, just like Kirito-kun, then."

"Oi." Kirito chimed in.

The group had a laugh at that.

Pina suddenly perked up and tilted her head. After a second, she flew to Silica's shoulder and let out a string of hushed noises.

"...Pina senses someone close by." Silica pointed to the side. "Over there."

I narrowed my eyes. "Is it an enemy we should look out for, or just someone minding their business?"

She shook her head. "She's not sure. The person is positioned behind a tree, so she couldn't quite tell."

"Let's at least go check it out." Kirito suggested.

We silently approached the area where Pina spotted someone. Eventually, we were able to locate them.

More than that, it was a familiar face.

"Strea!" Asuna shouted. We ran over and approached her. "Strea…?"

"..." there was no response. Strea wasn't hiding. She was unconscious, her back propped up against the tree.

And considering the glistening sweat that covered her body and her ragged breaths, she wasn't getting any rest at all.

"She looks like she's in pain. Is she having a nightmare?" Silica muttered.

"I don't know, but we should wake her up and make her drink a potion or something." Kirito reached out with her hand to try and shake her awake.

"...!" As soon as he touched her shoulder, Strea's eyes shot open and she jumped back. "...you..." She glared at us - specifically towards Kirito.

"Woah, easy there, Strea. It's us. Are you alright?" Kirito asked.

"..." She didn't reply and only silently glowered at us, hunched over like a cornered animal.

"Strea-" Asuna stepped forward and reached out with her hand.

"Don't come any closer!" She snapped. "Don't destroy me..."

"...what? Destroy you…?" Asuna said in a confused, but sad tone.

"...!" Strea must have realized what she just said. "I ...I'm sor...I…" She took an unsteady step back and cradled her head. "I…"

"Strea…"

"Kh!" Strea turned around and ran away.

"Strea! Wait!" Asuna tried to call out to her, but Strea just continued running.

"What's wrong with her?" Kirito spoke up.

"She said something about us 'destroying' her''. Any idea what that means?' I asked.

We hung our heads low and contemplated. Other than 'she was probably a Hollow so she's unstable and unpredictable', no other explanation came to mind.

The moment was cut short when we heard the sounds of battle nearby. "HYAAA!" A shrill scream, accompanied by forceful impacts and explosions.

We rushed toward the source of the voice. As we went closer and closer, I could see that sounds were coming from a clearing.

Due to their higher AGI, the others reached the edge of the clearing and crouched to observe the battle.

"Kirito-kun! Wait!" Asuna screamed as Kirito just leaped into the fray.

"What happened?!" I asked her as soon as I caught up to them

"I don't know! He took one look at who was fighting-"

I took a look at the scene.

And it was enough for me to rush in and draw Caerulus out.

I mean, how could I resist?

 _She_ was there.

And _she_ was in danger.

There were two monsters attacking her. They were humanoid stone golems, each one twice my size. The stones that made up the monsters were black and had a tinge of purple.

Kirito was locked in battle with one of them. The other one targeted her and wound its arm back.

I darted in and blocked the attack. "...!" The impact pushed me back a bit, but I was able to knock the attack back. "Are you alright?!" I turned my head and asked her.

"Ye-yes! Thank you very much, you two!"

I turned my head to look at her _._ She was wearing her iconic outfit - a frilly blue top that exposed her midriff with a matching skirt that billowed out like an upside down flower.

"No problem." Kirito and I said at the same.

"Stardust Witch Alpha Omega!"

Kirito turned to the others. "Everyone! I'll explain everything later, I promise! For now, help Riwet and I protect her!"

The others nodded and joined the fray.

I don't know why one of the characters of my most beloved Magical Girl shows was here in SAO, but now's not the time for questions.

Now's the time for violence.

"Watch out! They're tough!" Kirito shouted. He drew one of his swords back and quickly jabbed the monster. His sword bounced off before it hit. It was as if the monster was wearing an invisible layer of armor.

Which meant…

"A magical forcefield!"

"A what?!" Asuna shouted. "Magic!?"

"Seiya-gh!" Silica hit it with a Weapon Skill, but the monster was barely damaged. "Then how in the world are we supposed to fight them!?"

"E-everyone! Please, Listen!" Alpha said. "I-I can hurt them! I j-just need some time to cast my magic!"

I let out a sharp breath and adopted a defensive stance. "You heard her! Let's stall 'em!"

The fight continued. Instead of trying to deal damage to the monsters, we focused on diverting the monsters' attention toward us while Alpha started her incantations.

Stardust Witch Meruru was a classic anime, dating way, _way_ back in 2008. It told the story of an interplanetary war between Evil Star, a planet that whose denizens wanted to take over the galaxy starting with Earth, and Pretty Star, a planet whose denizens wanted to stop them. The reason Evil Star wanted to start with Earth was because they determined that young Terran girls possessed high levels of magic, especially if they possessed a pure and innocent heart, so they sent their queen and strongest warrior, Thanatos Eros, to Earth so that she could corrupt them and turn into Dark Witches like herself.

Fortunately, Comet-kun, Pretty Star's best warrior, reached Earth first. He enlisted the help of Meru Akaboshi and Arufa Kurotsuki, two young girls who possessed the high levels of magic. Comet-kun transformed them into Stardust Witches, magical protectors of the universe that would keep us safe from evildoers.

Eventually, Alpha Omega finished her chanting, and she pointed her hand toward the golems.

"Please get away from them!" We nodded at her and got out of the way.

Blue light appeared on the ground, the light intensifying rapidly. Before the golems were able to react, the light shot up and formed a pillar, engulfing them and rising past them until it stopped way up high. I could feel its raw power from where I stood.

Amongst the Stardust Witches, Alpha Omega's most defining trait was control. She didn't have the best destructive power or the fastest cast time, but she could mould her spells into whatever form she pleased.

The light pillar disappeared. The golems were reduced to charred rock and disintegrated.

"Did we do it?!" Silica shouted.

I was about to cheer, but I noticed an ominous glimmer in the sky. "No...over there!" I pointed at the light.

Kirito's face paled. "That's not good."

"Everybody, please come over to me!" Alpha shouted.

"What? What's happening!?" Silica asked fervently.

"It's Thanatos Eros! Please, come close to me so I can shield you!"

We nodded and huddled close to her. She raised her wand high and let out an incantation. A blue sphere emanated from the top of her wand and expanded, enveloping us inside it.

Just in time to shield us from a beam of purple energy.

"Gh!" I hugged Silica and shielded her with my body. I could feel the power and intensity of the beam even though Alpha Omega's barriers. The beam was one of Thanatos Eros' strongest attacks. There won't be anything left of us if it hit directly.

Small cracks started to litter the barrier. "Don't fall!" Alpha Omega shouted, fervently trying to mend the cracks.

"You can do it! We believe in you!" Kirito encouraged.

After what seemed to be an eternity, the attack slowly dissipated, until it finally ended.

I raised my head just in time to see Alpha's staff consumed by numerous cracks before it violently shattered, sending a shockwave all around us.

The impact was weak, but I felt lightheaded. "What…?"

My eyes wandered to the others. Philia, Kirito, and Asuna were lying on the ground a short distance away, unconscious. Pina, seemingly unaffected by the shockwave, circled around her master. She was crooning frantically, but it sounded so far away...

"Ri…" Silica was beside me. She stared at me in a daze, but I could see the fear and worry in her eyes before her legs tumbled and she started falling towards me.

I let go of Caerulus and held my hands out catch her.

And then everything went black.

…

…

"..." I heard voices. They sounded so far away...

"...uru…" The voices slowly

"Ngh…" I groaned and opened my eyes. Everything was still a blur, but I slowly started getting a hold of myself.

"Kyururu! Kyururu!" Pina was at my side. I could hear the relief in her tone.

I slowly tried to get up, but I realized that someone was laying on my chest. It only took me a second to realize who that person was. "...Silica…?" My voice...no...everything felt weird.

"Ngh…" She groaned.

I lightly tapped her back. "Are you alright?"

"Ri...Riwet…?...yes...I...I'm al-" Silica looked up and froze. "What...?"

"What? What happened?"

"Y-you...you're Riwet, right?"

She drew out a mirror from her Player Menu and faced it towards me.

Another Silica stared back from the mirror.

"What…?" I touched my face. The Silica in the reflection did the same. "I...I'm you…?" Was all I could say. What the absolute hell…

Silica rolled off from me and helped me up. I was about to take a moment to check what really happened to me before I realized something. "Where are the others?" I asked her.

We looked around and found them nearby. Asuna was lying on the ground. Silica crouched down and shook her shoulder. "Asuna-san, are you alright?"

"nn...Silica-chan…?" Asuna slowly came to and held onto Silica as she pulled her up.

I nodded and looked at the black-clothed person who was lying beside her.

Kirito was already good looking, with sort of a cute charm to him that juxtaposed with how ferocious he was on the battlefield.

But just like me, he'd been changed to look like a UR waifu.

I touched his shoulder. "Hey. You alright?"

"Nn…." Kirito stirred and slowly opened his eyes. His unfocused gaze found me, and he stared at me as if he was in a trance.

"..." I found myself mesmerized by her- _his_ appearance.

"Silica…?" His voice pulled me out of my stupor. Despite the change in appearance, his voice remained the same.

I shook off my thoughts and helped him up. "Not quite."

After we helped them up and gathered our bearings, we took a moment to analyze the situation. We were unconscious for about an hour. We found Alpha Omega lying unconscious on the ground. She didn't look like she was waking up, so I carried her on my back as we moved.

We found Philia lying nearby. When we woke her up, she seemed out of sorts. We explained to her what happened, but she just nodded absently and cradled her head.

"Are you alright…? Asuna asked.

"Yeah...I just feel...tired…I'm seeing two Silica-chans...I don't..."

Asuna nodded silently. "Let's get you back to the Administration Area." She helped her up and lent a shoulder. Fortunately, there was a Transport Console nearby. "I'll lay her down and tell Yui what happened. You three try and figure out what just happened."

We nodded. Asuna nodded back, and the two of them dissipated.

I set Alpha Omega down and propped her up against a tree. "All right…" I looked at myself. My avatar was changed to look almost exactly like Silica, but with some noticeable differences. My appearance, height, and general body size were identical. Kirito said that my voice was more or less the same as her, but a bit different because of how I talked.

The most striking difference was that my eyes and hair were black, and my hair was longer. Whereas Silica's hair only stretched just a bit under her shoulders, mine reached my waist.

Speaking of waist, I reached between my legs to check.

And I didn't feel anything.

There was nothing there.

Nothing.

Not even the other equivalent.

It felt like I was grabbing my armpit.

...

Yeah.

As for Kirito's case, it was definitely him, but like me, his appearance was that of a female. Long, glimmering black hair littered the ground next to her. His face had undergone small, but very noticeable differences. His eyelashes were longer and his lips were colored in a perfect natural pink. He'd shrunk to become as tall and as slender as us.

If I had to describe it, the transformation turned me into more or less an older version of Silica, and Kirito into a female version of himself.

If I had to describe it further, I'd use the words 'innocent but bewitching' on Kirito.

And of course, 'divine and angelic' on mine.

Also, yeah. He checked his lower body. Also nothing.

"*stare*" Silica silently stared at me.

"What's up?" I asked her.

"I can't believe how much you look like me."

I looked at myself in the mirror. "Yeah…" I looked back at her, and I noticed that she was staring at me a bit weirdly. "What's up?"

"How do I say this...you look more...mature than me…"

I glanced at Silica, then back at me. Silica, then at me. "...meh. You're a bit more attractive."

She looked away, her face a bit tinged in a pink color. "W-what makes you say that?"

I shook my head and patted hers. "You're mistaking 'cold and detached' to mature. Your face is better with a smile on it."

"Nn...ehehe~"

"See? Just like that."

"Heeh~" Kirito hummed from beside us. "I see, I see…"

"What's up?"

"Yui offhandedly said that you give really good headpats. I'm taking notes."

"Well, as you can see, I've got lots of opportunities to practice."

"Yeah...Asuna doesn't like being pat on the head. She says that it's like being treated like a kid."

"Hmm…" I turned back to Silica. "Do you feel that way?"

"Hmm…not really…I don't feel that you're patronizing or belittling me by patting my head...so I'd rather have them than not."

"That's good to know."

A sphere of light coalesced and dispersed, revealing Asuna. "I'm back." She greeted.

"Welcome back." I replied. "How's Philia?"

"She's resting. I explained everything to Yui-chan. She didn't have any information about what happened and advised us to wake the NPC up. She should have a questline of some sort, which is tied to getting the Sharicite Fragment. She'll also be caring for Philia until she feels better."

"That's good to know."

"So, without further ado…" Asuna pulled out what seemed to look like lipstick from her inventory and approached Kirito.

"What are you doing?" He replied, taking a step back and eyeing her suspiciously.

"Come on! Just for one quick second~" Asuna urged.

Kirito tried to get away, but he eventually relented. Asuna led him a distance away and started applying the stuff on him.

…

"Done~" Asuna giggled. "I would've wanted to put on a makeup, as well~"

"G-give me a break…"

Asuna turned him toward us. "What do you think?"

"Pretty…" Silica muttered. I couldn't agree more. The lipstick didn't have any color - it just made her- _his_ already eye-catching lips to be all sparkly.

It seemed such a little thing, putting a little bit of lipstick, but it really made a difference...

I shook my head and cleared my throat. "Let's go find a way to turn us back, yeah?"

"Seconded." Kirito nodded.

I glanced to where Alpha Omega was rested. "The last thing I remember was her staff breaking and making a bang. I think she's rested enough, so let's try and wake her up."

We walked towards her. "She doesn't have a cursor…" Silica pointed out. "An NPC?"

"Yeah, sure looks like it. Not just someone cosplaying. She looks like the real deal." I explained excitedly.

"The real deal? You two know this person, right? Who is she?" Asuna asked.

"You don't know?! She's Alpha Omega!" I exclaimed.

She tilted her head. "...Arufa...who?"

"Alpha Omega! From Stardust Witch Meruru!" Kirito replied excitedly. "One of the greatest Magical Girl shows in the known universe!"

"That's right! That's right!" I vigorously nodded before I looked at Kirito. "I see that you're a man of culture as well."

"Indeed, my fellow brethren."

Asuna looked at Silica and tilted her head. Silica shook her head. "It doesn't ring a bell, really."

"Well, don't sweat it. When we get out SAO, let's binge watch the show! We can eve-" Before I finished what I said, I had a revelation. "No…this can't..." I muttered in disbelief.

"What is it, Riwet?" Kirito asked.

I looked at him straight in the eye. "...SAO made us miss the remake." A remake was set to be released back in January 2023, two months after SAO went live.

Kirito froze as he heard my words, and his eyes glittered with malice. "Kayaba Akihiko will pay for this."

I gave a grim nod. "Indeed, he will."

Asuna and Silica looked at us like we were idiots. I don't blame them. They just don't understand Meruru yet.

I crouched down next to Alpha, and lightly shook her shoulder. "Hey. Are you awake?"

"..." She stirred a bit and mumbled. "It's weekend...no...classes…"

I shook her a bit more forcefully. "Wake up, please."

"Ngh..." That did the trick. She made a cute little sound before she slowly opened your eyes. "Wh-what…?"

"Are you awake?" I held out my hand.

"Th-thank you, onee-chan." She took it and I helped her up.

I stifled a chuckle. "Not quite right."

We exchanged introductions and gave a brief overview of what happened. I opened my Player Menu and handed her a piece of the staff that I found on the ground. "This is the only thing that's left of your staff." It was a brilliant blue gemstone that sat on top of her wand. "Can you help us?"

Arufa absently took the gemstone from me. "I can...but I...I need a wand…"

"Is there some way we can get you a new wand? Maybe repair it?" If it came down to it, I'll ask around. There's bound to be Hollow that's based on a Blacksmith who's willing to help out a cutie.

She shook her head. "I...I need my wand….the one that I used earlier...was a spare…" She pointed at a monolithic structure. "...my wand is there...I...I don't know why I know that...I just...I can feel it calling to me..."

"So, if you have the wand, you can undo this and bring us back to normal?"

Alpha slowly nodded. "Y-yes...i-it's my fault that you are like this…b-but I can't fight without a wand. W-will you help me?"

Kirito came forward again and touched her shoulder. "You shielded us from that beam attack earlier, so it's only right to repay you. We'll get your wand back."

"Thank you very much!" Alpha let out a bright smile - the first one that she made since she woke up.

And with that, we were off.

 _ *****  
Loading...Complete  
*****_

"Haa!" Kirito let out a shout, driving his twin Elucidators toward an enemy Orc Crusher. I could see that the swing was awkward. "Kh!" He grunted and gritted his teeth when the monster blocked it with its weapon.

"Fall back!" I darted in between them and unleashed Mach Kick on the monster's weapon. The weapon flew from the monster's arm as it staggered back, giving us just enough time to retreat. I jumped back but fumbled the landing a bit.

"Look out!" Silica caught me from falling backward and supported me from behind.

"Kyururu!" Pina swooped in and blasted a stream of debilitating bubbles toward the enemy.

"Begone!" Asuna finished the monster off with a Star Splash. The monster roared and disappeared into particles.

"Whew...it's over." I heard Silica sigh from behind.

I cleared my throat. "Yeah, about that." I tapped her hand.

"...eh…?" It took her a moment to realize that she was groping my breast. "Wah! S-sorry!" She squealed and hurriedly let go.

"Heh, don't sweat it." I laughed it off and patted her head. We confirmed that no other monsters were nearby, and then we continued on.

The fight was sloppy. Regarding Kirito and I, there were no changes to our stats and Skill Proficiencies, but the change in our bodies messed with us. I just felt weird all over, and I'm sure that Kirito felt the same way. We encountered other groups of enemies, but we decided to switch it up. Asuna and Silica dealt damage and opened the enemy. I focused solely on tanking so I don't have to worry about attacking. Kirito hung back and waited for the opportune moment.

That tactic worked well for that encounter. Not focusing on attacking made me more aware of my sense of equilibrium so my movements became more solid for the most part, and Kirito didn't have to worry about opening the monster up first so his attacks dealt good damage and knockback while keeping him safe. So far so good...

"I'm really sorry about all of this." Arufa chimed in, her head hung low.

"It's fine, but you should get something that doesn't go crazy when it breaks so it doesn't happen next time." I stated, and she silently nodded. "So, what happened, anyway? Why don't you have your usual wand with you?"

"...I was under the control of Thanatos Eros. She was a bad lady, and she wanted to rule the world. She forced me to fight Meruru-chan, my best friend who was also a magical girl…" Her face turned solemn. "Meruru-chan and I fought for hours...she could have easily beaten me, but she held back because I was her friend. When we were both exhausted, Thanatos Eros suddenly appeared and casted her beam spell. In order to get away, Meruru-chan blasted me with her spell and shielded herself...or so I thought..." Tears started forming on the sides of her eyes.

"Alpha-chan?"

"Meruru-chan's magic attack didn't hurt me one bit. Instead, it broke Thanatos Eros' control over me. And even though she was too tired to even speak, she darted in and shielded me with her body. I barely got out alright, but….Meruru-chan...Thanatos Eros...took her away….and took our wands away...and I couldn't do anything but watch…" Tears spilled from her eyes, and she hung her head down and raised her arms to cover her face. "Thanatos Eros is hiding my wand...and Meruru-chan...to that place...but now that my only wand is broken...I can't do anything...I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Meruru-chan…" She fell on her knees and wept.

Silica approached her and hunched down to her level, softly grabbing her shoulder. "Don't cry, Alpha-chan. You're strong. You can do this."

"B-but I don't know if I can…"

"But you should still try." Asuna chimed in, her face stern. "If you can't use magic, then use something else. Meruru-chan gave her all to protect you. And wherever she is right now, she needs you. It's only right to save her in return."

"..." Alpha Omega pondered her words. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "...I...I'll…" She looked up at us, her face resolute. "I'll save her...whatever it takes...I'll save her…!"

Asuna's stern face melted into a smile. "Very good. And don't worry so much. We'll all be there, supporting you along the way."

"That's right." Silica spoke up.

Kirito stepped forward toward her. "My body may have changed, but I can still help. You can count on us."

I also stepped forward. "What he said."

"Y-yes! Everyone...t-thank you very much!"

We continued on our journey. I noticed Kirito vacantly starting in the distance as if pondering something. "Something on your mind?"

Kirito turned to look at Alpha. She was on the side playing with Pina. He nodded and faced us. "I know that magic users like Alpha Omega may as well be unique NPCs, but magic in SAO...could you imagine?"

"Hmm...when I play RPGs, I usually don't invest much in magic. Only the simples one to supplement my normal attacks. I'll still use my usual attacks most of the time" I replied.

"This is my first game, so I don't really know…" Asuna trailed off.

"Same with Asuna-san. Sounds interesting, though." Silica added.

"Hmm…" Kirito contemplated. "...in theory, it would make fighting in SAO safer since dedicated mages can attack from a distance while also buffing the frontline tanks. On the other hand," he glanced at Alpha, "Based on what we saw earlier, magic attacks pack a punch but the user needs time to cast, leaving them wide open."

"And if SAO's sadistic enough to employ enemies that use magic, or hell, anti-magic areas…" I took a deep breath. "Depending on how magic will be implemented-no, regardless of how it'll be implemented, it'll make a big impact on how we play."

"...well, even if that happens, we'll be able to handle it." Asuna chimed in. "We're the Clearers. Adapting to uncertain - and even unfavorable - circumstances and turning them to our advantage is our forte. It's what we've done, and it's what we'll do"

Kirito smiled at her. "Damn right."

We eventually came close to the Labyrinth. As expected, the area had tons of traps littered within it, with the occasional golem here and there. Inside the labyrinth were more traps and more enemies.

The enemies and traps got more challenging as we ascended the labyrinth floors until we reached the final floor, where there was none. Which could only mean one thing...

"...Thanatos Eros is expecting us." Silica commented.

"What should we do?" Alpha Omega asked.

"We press on. We have no other choice. Stay close, okay?"

"Okay…"

We eventually reached the final room. It was empty, save for a pedestal on the far side of the room.

And there, floating slightly above the pedestal was...

"My wand!" Alpha pointed excitedly.

We quickly approached the pedestal once we determined that there weren't any traps. Alpha Omega slowly reached for the wand-

"Hahahaha!" A haughty laugh permeated throughout the area. "Well done, Alpha Omega. Well done in finding a handful of misguided souls gullible enough to fight your battles for you."

From the other end of the area, purple smoke spun like a whirlwind. It slowly intensified before it landed on the ground and dispersed, revealing the Dark Witch Thanatos Eros.

She had long, light purple hair that flowed with the wind. Her head was slightly raised, and her blood-red eyes looked down at us. Her mouth, tinged with purple-colored lipstick, was curled up in a haughty smirk.

Her familiar, a snake-like alien creature named Octopus, was wrapped around her body, which was dressed in a skin-tight suit that accentuated her well-developed figure.

"Thanatos Eros!" Arufa shouted. "Where's Meruru-chan!? Bring her back!"

Thanatos Eros's smile widened. "Meruru-chan, you say? Fufufu…" She snapped her fingers. "My dear Meruru-chan, they're calling for you, so come out~"

Another figure jumped from the shadows. Arufa took a step back as soon as she recognized the newcomer. "Meruru...chan?"

It was indeed the eponymous Stardust Witch Meruru. However, she was different. Her usual pink-colored dress was replaced by dark clothes with a design that evoked an impish, devil-like feel. Her skin was noticeably tanned and her pink hair was dyed with a color similar to Thanatos Eros', and her innocent, cyan eyes were dyed red and glowing with malice. A glowing purple gem was attached to her forehead.

Alpha stared in disbelief. "No...what did you do to her?!"

"Oh, this and that. You'll experience it...soon enough." Thanatos grinned and turned to Meruru. "My dear Meruru-chan, would you kindly entertain our guests?"

"..." Meruru let out a wicked grin and charged towards us.

 _ *****  
Cue Music: Venetian Snares - Hajnal  
*****_

"...!" I was blown back by a magically-enhanced flying roundhouse kick from the Stardust Witch. The others scrambled and surrounded her from all sides.

Not good. Stardust Witch Meruru was renowned for her sheer power, both in close and long ranges. She demonstrated this by continuing to attack me while she dodged the onslaught from three other people. Within a few seconds, she made it clear that she was more than a match for the four of us. And she was just getting started.

Alpha Omega hurriedly took her staff from the pedestal and pointed it at Meruru. "Hang on, Meuru-chan! I'll get rid of whatever that bad person had done to you!"

"Tsk. Tsk. Tsk." Thanatos clicked her tongue and wiggled her finger. "Did you really think that things would be that easy?"

The gemstone on the top of the wand glowed an ominous purple color, and black sludge poured out from it. "Wh-what?!" The sludge started to spill onto her hands and slowly moved closer to her body.

"Arufa-chan! Thanatos Eros put a trap on your staff! Let go of it before it consumes you!" Kirito shouted at her.

Alpha Omega silently looked down at her staff.

"Hurry up and let go!" Kirito said.

She looked at Meruru, and then to Kirito and I "...no…"

"What?!"

"No! I can't! I...I'll save you…! I'll save you all!" She looked down and started concentrating. The stone at the top of her wand still had a purple glow, but it started to pulse, slowly turning blue by the second.

"Arufa-chan!" Kirito tried to go to her, but she erected a barrier to block him. He banged on the barrier. "Don't be so reckless! We can find another way!"

Alpha Omega paused and looked at him with a determined stare. "You have done so much for me...please...let me do this much...please...believe in me…!" She shifted her gaze toward Meruru. "Believe in me!"

"Enough of this. Meruru-chan, destroy them!" Thanatos ordered.

"..." Strangely enough, Meuru was silently staring at the commotion.

"Did you perchance not hear me, my dear minion?! I said DESTROY THEM!"

Kirito gave Alpha Omega a hard stare before he nodded and went back to us. "Everyone! You know what to do!"

We nodded back and resolved to weather the assault until Alpha Omega was done.

With that, Meruru continued her assault. However, I could feel that her attacks were a bit sluggish. Early on, we deduced that the gem in her forehead was how Thanatos Eros controller her, but every time we went for it, her defense was on point.

I glanced at Thanatos Eros' face. She acted confident, but I could see that she was concentrating. Could her control over Meruru was weakening, and she was too busy concentrating to do anything else?

Time to test it out, I guess.

I looked at Kirito and used body language to explain what I was about to do. He nodded back. We took a moment to communicate with the others. They understood what I said and nodded. I nodded back and made my way toward Thanatos Eros.

"Oh, what's this?" The Dark Witch sneered. "Have you come to surrender and plead to be my pet?"

"Not quite." I threw a Throwing Knife at her.

"Hmph!" She shot out a magical beam from her eyes to the knife, disintegrating it instantly. "Do you think that'll work, you insect?"

"It depends. Do you know how annoying it is to deal with a fly when you've got your hands full?"

I charged toward her. She retaliated with magical spells, but they were really easy to dodge in spite of the fact that I had slightly above average evasion. "Not even close. Wanna try harder this time?" I taunted.

"Silence!"

"Make me, old lady!"

"Gh…!" She gritted her teeth.

I spent the next few minutes being an insufferable nuisance. I don't usually do this kind of thing, so my insults devolved into different ways of calling her old, fat, and/or ugly. She had always taunted Meruru and Alpha Omega whenever they fought, but nobody taunted her back. I figured that she'd be vulnerable to that. Guess I was right.

As the fight dragged on, Meruru's attacks became more and more unfocused, while Thanatos' attacks toward me were getting more and more dangerous. One time, she ordered Meruru toward me, but it freed up Kirito to insult her, instead. And boy, oh boy, was his insults more potent than mine.

Angry veins popped out of Thanatos' temples. "THAT'S ENOUGH!" She raised her hand and started a series of incantations.

"Big mistake, Thanatos!" Kirito pulled out a bottle from his inventory. It was a transparent bottle, filled with glowing, gold liquid. As soon as we saw what it was, we turned our eyes away. He then threw it towards her.

"That won't work!" Thanatos fired a magical beam from her eyes.

"Oh, but it will!" Kirito replied with a hint of triumph in his voice as he looked away and shielded his face with his arms.

The moment the beam made contact with the bottle, it exploded and filled the area with intense light for a split second. "AAAARGH!" Thanatos screamed in pain, her hands holding her eyes.

Ah. The classic Flash Phial. Its use had been steadily decreasing since it didn't do anything much other than flash for a second, the materials required to make it weren't cheap, and monsters were getting resistant to it.

Nevertheless, it turned out to be exactly what we needed. Why didn't I think of that?

"Gh!" Since Kirito wasn't looking at Thanatos Eros, he didn't notice that the magical beam arced over to him. It hit him and knocked him to his back, but he was fine, for the most part. "NOW!" Kirito turned to us and shouted.

"Eeeei!" Silica rushed forward and tackled Meruru with her shoulder. Meruru kept her footing, but she was disoriented.

"Got you!" Asuna grabbed Meruru arms and lifted her from behind.

"Sorry about this, Meruru-chan!" I wound my fist back and punched Meruru in the forehead. The gem fractured, but I wasn't able to destroy it.

Meruru thrashed about and escaped Asuna's grip. "RAAAH!" But instead of attacking, she held her head and screamed.

"AAAAAAH!" From behind us, Alpha Omega raised her staff with a magnificent shout. Her staff glowed with a brilliant blue color, and a shockwave blasted through the area.

I braced myself. The impact was similar to the shockwave that hit us earlier, but. It felt...right.

A sphere of light surrounded me. The light filled my vision, and I closed my eyes out of reflex. After a few seconds, the light dissipated and I opened my eyes. "I...I'm back..." I looked down at my body, it was really me.

"Riwet!" Silica called from beside me.

"Silica! I'm back!"

"Same for me!" That was Kirito.

"Haah...haaa…" Alpha Omega dropped her staff in exhaustion and she slowly fell forward.

"Arufa-chan!" Silica rushed to Alpha and supported her. "Are you alright?"

"Haa...yes...I...I'm just...tired…" She looked really exhausted, but there was no trace of the corruption in her body.

Silica nodded and slowly laid her down. "You've done well, Arufa-chan. Leave the rest to us."

"...!" The shockwave hit Meruru, and it broke the gem on Meruru's forehead. She stared at Alpha Omega as if she was in a trance. "Aru...chan…" She muttered and slowly fell.

Asuna caught her. "There, there…I'll get you to Alpha-chan." She carried her and quickly went to where Alpha Omega was rested.

Thanatos clicked her tongue. "Hmph. I didn't expect her to break free of my curse, much less return your souls to your original bodies. No matter. I'll deal with this myself." She snapped her fingers. A length of purple light appeared in front of her hands. She grabbed it, and the light transformed into her wand. 3 bars of HP appeared on my HUD, signaling the start of the battle.

Kirito and I were back in our original bodies. Just in time for the main event.

"Ladies and gentlemen," I said as I gave Caerulus a twirl, "The first thing that Arufa-chan did after she got out was to return us to our original bodies. Let's not make her effort go to waste."

"Hmph." Kirito drew out his second Elucidator. "Couldn't have said it better myself."

Silica threw her Ebon Dagger upward with a spin before she caught it and twirled it around her hand. "So, without further ado…"

Asuna brandished her Lambent Light. "Let's finish this."

And with that, the four of us charged towards Thanatos Eros.

"Haaa!" Silica dashed in and attempted a stab.

"Hmph." Thanatos simply raised her hand. Silica froze in place and was lifted to the air.

"Let go of her!" Before the Dark Witch could do anything, Asuna unleashed a Linear on her flank.

"Gh!" Thanatos grimaced. A magical barrier blocked the attack, but it rattled her concentration enough that Silica was let go.

Kirito and I followed up, but we couldn't do much other than keeping the pressure on her.

A few minutes of back and forth happened between us, with Thanatos Eros almost filling the entire area with deadly magical orbs and lasers. She was immensely powerful - very faithful to the anime - but it was a good thing that her incarnation here reflected her weaknesses as well.

She was certainly very formidable, but endurance was never her strong suit.

We made slow but steady progress, observing the Dark Witch's attack and movement patterns. Eventually, we were consistently dodging her attacks while hitting her with our own. There were times where Thanatos would try and send a magical attack toward the resting Stardust Witches, but I quickly deflected them while the others dealt damage.

"Gh!" Thanatos was blown back from being hit by a Linear and a Draconic Assault. She glanced at Silica and Asuna, and her lips curved into a smile. "Fufu...fufufu~"

"What's so funny?!" Asuna shouted.

"Nothing. It's just hilarious that you two even dare to fight me when you are this lacking."

"We're beating you! What part of us is lacking?!" Silica said.

"What, indeed…" Thanatos Eros smiled mischievously. She put her hand on her waist and bent down, putting a bit of emphasis on her…

Her...

…

...how do I say this…

Bouncy.

And curvy.

"..." Silica and Asuna slumped slightly. I don't know if it's my imagination, but dark aura started to seep out from their bodies.

"U-um, you two should calm do-" Kirito nervously started to say to them.

"..." He hurriedly shut up when Asuna silently glanced in his direction.

"Riwet…" Silica called me. Her voice was soft but simmered with rage. "...let's crack some eggs."

"Haa!" "Seiya!" The two of them charged forward before I could say anything.

While Thanatos Eros was a master warrior, she also had an uncanny ability to get under people's skin. A lot of times, it provoked her enemies enough that she was able to catch them off guard.

Other times, it lead to her biggest downfalls.

We continued the battle, with Silica and Asuna attacking with impressive ferocity. I had seen Asuna a couple of times before, and it was a sight to behold.

As for Silica, it was the first time I saw her genuinely seething with rage. And you know, it kinda spoke volumes about me when I found her furious, bloodthirsty visage to be extremely attractive.

"Haa!" "Seiya!" Silica and Asuna charged in tandem.

"Naive~" Thanatos raised her hand and snapped her fingers. Magical orbs rose up from the ground all around them. "You two walked right into my trap."

"Then it's a good thing that you walked right into _ours_ , as well." Silica retorted.

"What?!"

"Kyrururu!" Pina swooped in and breathed a stream of bubbles toward Thanatos' face.

"Argh!" She staggered back and held her face. "You pests!"

"Haa!" Kirito sliced one of the orbs, making an opening for the two.

I swooped in and threw a bottle of fast-acting paralyzing poison underneath her to try and prolong the debuff. Fortunately, it looked like she wasn't immune to its effects.

"It's now or never!" I shouted.

The four of us unleashed a barrage of Weapon Skills. The attack was powerful enough that Thanatos Eros' magical barrier broke, opening her up for even more damage.

The onslaught continued until we depleted her second HP bar. That was when all hell broke loose.

" **ENOUGH!** " Thanatos Eros roared, and I got blown back and landed on my front. I tried to push myself up, but it felt like something was weighing me down and pinning me. I looked up and saw that the others were also crouched on the ground. My eyes widened when I saw something on the corner of my vision, but I quickly turned my attention back to Thanatos.

"I have had enough of your _feeble_ struggles!" She shouted, her voice reverberating throughout the area. She levitated a bit, and dark aura started exuding from her body.

I slowly pushed myself off the ground and stood, but I couldn't shake off the heavy feeling. The others were still struggling to sit up.

" _Stay. Down_." She raised her wand, and I felt the weight become heavier. Now that I had the time to think, she did this to Meruru and Alpha Omega during the final battle.

I tried to resist, but I was forced back onto one knee.

She levitated in front of me and pointed her wand. "Any final words?"

I sighed in resignation. "Hurry up and shoot, then."

"Hmph. Very well." Her wand started glowing.

"No! Riwet!" "Riwet-kun!" "Riwet!" The others shouted my name.

I turned towards them. "It's gonna be okay!"

Thanatos scoffed. "In what way is this going to end up well for you?"

I turned back to her. "Because, my dear Thanatos, when I said 'hurry up and shoot'…"

"He wasn't talking to you!" A voice said from behind.

As if on cue, a pink beam of pure energy pierced through Thanatos' center. "Wh-What?!" She roared as the blast sent her toppling a short distance.

The beam coming from way behind us, where the two Stardust Witches were resting.

I turned around and smiled at Stardust Witch Meruru, who was restored in her normal outfit. Her right hand was holding her staff, which was smoking from the magical attack. Beside her was Alpha Omega. She incanted a spell, and I felt the overbearing weight leave my shoulders, as well as fully restoring my HP. I looked around and found that the others receiving the same treatment.

The fight continued, but it was clear who was the winner. Meruru's powerful spells tore Thanatos Eros apart, while Alpha Omega protected us and negated every single thing that the Dark Witch tried to do, as well as protecting us from collateral damage when Meruru blew the whole ceiling off and dropped toward Thanatos.

After a few more minutes of fighting, Thanatos Eros' HP was completely depleted, and I had the honor of performing the finishing blow. Caerulus was impaled deep into her stomach.

"Gh!...this...this..this isn't over." Thanatos glared at me and gripped my glaive. "I, Thanatos Eros, will come back. And I swear that next ti-"

"Then hurry up out of here." I shook her grip off, pulled Caerulus out, and aimed at her face this time.

Before my blade made contact with the dark witch, her body glowed bright purple and blinked away like a bolt of lightning - the same way she always did on the anime.

 _ *****  
Music End**_

"Phew." I sighed and sheathed Caerulus before I turned to Silica. "You alright?"

"Hmm...more or less." She replied.

"Attagirl."

"Meruru-chan!" Alpha leaped into Meruru's arms. "Meruru-chan! Meruru-chan! Uaaaaaah!" She dug her head into Meruru's chest.

Meruru let out a gentle smile and wrapped her around Arufa's back. "It's all right, Arufa-chan. It's alright…" She whispered as she patted the back of Arufa's head.

Silica approached me. "We did it…"

I nodded. " But Thanatos Eros will come back."

"She always does." Meruru said. "But we'll be ready next time. Right, Aru-chan?"

Arufa nodded. "That's right. This time, I won't get corrupted by her!"

Kirito smiled. "I hope the best for the two of you."

Meruru smiled and started floating. Alpha Omega looked at her. "Meruru-chan?" She asked.

"It's time for us to go, Aru-chan. All this time, we've been Thanatos Eros get away with doing bad things to people. Now, we should chase her and defeat her, once and for all." She reached out to Alpha Omega with her hand. "Will you come with me?"

Alpha didn't hesitate to grab on. "Yes!"

Meruru turned to us. "I'm sorry, Onii-sans, Onee-sans. I would have loved to have known you better. Thank you for helping Aru-chan. I hope we meet each other again!"

And with that, they flew away and disappeared into the sky. We waved goodbye towards them.

"Now that I think of it," Kirito spoke up, "When I was researching about Sword Art Online, there were rumors that Stardust Witch Meruru will be having a collaboration with it, in celebration of its remake."

"Yeah, I've heard of that, too. I brushed it off since it didn't have any ground it, aside from the fact that it'll start airing a bit after SAO launched." I paused. "You know, I hope that the marketers didn't announce the collaboration. The last thing that the anime needs is a connection to a death game."

I paused again and realized that I brought the mood down a little. "Regardless of that, a lot of things happened, but it's a good thing that everything turned out well."

"That's right!" Silica spoke up. "I hope that we'll meet Alpha-chan and Meruru-chan again someday when things aren't that serious."

"Yeah. I think that you and Meruru-chan would get along really well."

A high-pitched sound caught our attention. We turned to the source and discovered that a chest materialized at the center of the area. "And to the victor, go the spoils." I muttered as we approached it. We took a second to make sure that the chest wasn't a mimic before we opened it.

"Alright! That's one more Sharicite Fragment in the bag !...Huh…?" I inspected the other thing that I got and took it out of my inventory. "Huh..." It was a white gem about as big as a Corridor Crystal. It was cut neatly and gleamed vividly as sunlight reflected off of it.

"What did you get?" Silica asked.

I showed her the gem. "It's called 'Gear Uplifter". The item description says that it'll upgrade a specific equipment that I've used for a long time." I accessed the item and said that it's able to enhance my Cobalt Coat. "Nice." The upgrade was significant. I was contemplating on replacing my Cobalt Coat since its stats were about to be outdone by the stuff that I could buy on the later Floors. I had been holding out since I was more than accustomed to it, but now, I don't have to feel guilty about sticking to what I was used to.

I took one last look at it before I canceled the process and stored the item back in my inventory. "I'll check with Yui if I can use this item safely." I turned to Silica. "How about you? What did you get?"

"Let's see...wah~" Silica cooed. I looked at what she got. It was a simple black cape. A red ribbon was at its center, connecting the ends of the cloth.

"Oh! That's a cape from Pretty Star. They have an annual period there where the weather was inconsistent so that cape is magically enchanted to keep them warm when it's too cold, and also to keep them cool when it's a bit hot."

"Heeeh…" She tried it on. The cape stretched down to just above her stomach. "How do I look?"

"Perfect, as always."

"Ehehe~"

"What's this?" I turned around to see Asuna holding a unique-looking school uniform on her hands.

"Oh, that's the uniform from the school that Meruru-chan and Arufa-chan were in!" Kirito explained. "The school allowed them to wear casual clothes, but they were required to wear that uniform for formal events and whatnot."

"Hmm...I'm too old to be wearing something like this...oh! I should give this to Yui-chan!"

"Good idea! I think she'll like it!" Kirito nodded and checked his inventory. "Okay, so what did I ge-" He froze.

"What did you get?" I asked.

"...Thanatos Eros' costume…" Kirito gulped and instinctively glanced at Asuna.

"Hmph. Not a chance." Asuna crossed her arms and scoffed. "That's practically a strip of cloth, you know!"

"Oh, come on! You've already worn something more perv-" Kirito froze from where he stood. Part of it was he realized what he had just said.

The other part of it was Asuna's rapier centimeters away from digging into his throat.

"*ahem*" I cleared my throat to catch their attention. Time to bail Kirito out of the deep hole he'd just dug himself. "How about this? The next time Kirito wants you to wear something, you should also make Kirito wear something."

Asuna paused, deep in thought. After a second, a lecherous grin crept from the corners of her lips. "A maid uniform….complete with a long-haired wig and lipstick...fufu...fufufu~" She muttered in a creepy tone.

"O-oi. N-now that you think about it, you don't have to do it." Kirito nervously interjected.

Without missing a beat, Asuna straightened up, her smile changing from being lecherous to being demure. "You make an excellent point, Riwet-kun." She looked back to Kirito and just silently smiled at him. "I'm ready when you are."

"...crap." Kirito was sweating. Can't blame him. He turned towards me and frowned. "Hey! What gives?!"

"Oh, you wanted to be executed, then?"

"Gh…"

I guess I'll ask for a for a picture of him later. "Anyways, four down, two more to go. Let's hurry up and check up on Philia."

 _ *****  
Loading...Complete  
Changing Perspective: Third Person  
*****_

"Ngh…" Philia let out a groan. She turned sideways and slowly picked herself off the ground. The last thing that she remembered was being hit by

"Good morning, young lady." She heard a voice from behind her say.

Philia's eyes widened and she quickly stood up. She quickly turned around and was greeted with a familiar sight. "Y-you again?!" It was the hooded stranger from back then.

"You're so defensive. I don't bite, you know!" The stranger let out a hearty laugh. "Oh, yeah. Now that I think about it, I haven't introduced myself. The name's PoH. Pleased to meet you."

" _What. Do you want. From me_?" Philia gritted her teeth and tried to look for a way out, but she couldn't. She was inside a forest, and she could see hooded players all around her, hiding behind the trees and surrounding her.

"...tell me, how long are you planning on teaming up with those people for?" PoH suddenly asked.

"That's got nothing to do with you." She retorted.

PoH chuckled. "Well, the thing is...If my instincts are right, you're going to realize who you really are before long…Of course, I might be wrong. You tell me, Philia."

"Philia the Orange Hollow."

Philia's eyes widened, and she found herself out of breath. "I-I don't know anything about Hollows or anything like that."

"Like I said. You and your friends live in different worlds. I mean that very literally, by the way." PoH sighed. "You belong here, in the worlds of shadows...you're like us, you know. You and me, we're not really people."

"I...I…" Philia couldn't reply.

"You can feel it, don't you? You try so hard to deny it when the truth is so painfully obvious."

"Stop...stop it! I-I'm a human!" She shouted out.

"Why can't you just accept it? Admit that you're not a person!" PoH's smile widened." You're no different from me...we're just the same... _exactly the same_."

"..." Philia wanted to deny what he said, but she couldn't.

Maybe it was because, in her heart, she agreed with him.

'Whoa! Mmm….now that expression is exactly what I wanted to see! What a very nice look of despair!" PoH seemed to be having fun, taking in Philia's pained expression as she wallowed in misery.

"E-Even if it's true, they're my friends! They won't give a damn about it!" She shouted.

"Haaahhh….how naive." PoH shook his head. "The moment they get out of this Hollow Area, your death is all but certain. And the funny thing is that they'll be directly responsible for it!"

"..what?"

"Not just you. Everyone here...it'll be game over for us."

"...I don't understand..."

"The way they're going at it, they have a strong chance of clearing SAO. And when it's cleared, everything will be erased."

"...!...including us…"

"Bing bong! That's right! You're not as stupid as I thought." PoH guffawed. "So you see, it's just like I said...your friends are going to kill you someday...and you're helping them tie your own noose."

"...I..."

"Try and convince yourself all you like, but remember what I said. These are the facts. And that's why I'm going to stop them. I don't know about you, but I don't wanna die...so, I've come to ask for your help."

"Help you…?...Y-you want me to...kill….?!"

"Oh, no no no! You don't have to do anything like that! All you have to do is lure them in a cage. You won't have to do a thing to them. They just need to stay out of the picture for a bit. We're not going to kill him, I promise. They can go back to doing whatever they want once we're done. You don't have to be part of anything else. What do you say?"

Philia looked down and shook her head. "I...I can't…"

"Come on...they're your friends, right? Don't you want them to come and live in our world for a bit?"

"..."

"Do you want to die alone, with your friends not even noticing? Or do you want to live with them, for all eternity?" PoH concluded and turned around. "...I'll leave you so you can think about it."

"Wait!" Philia called out to him when he started to walk away. "Wait…"

PoH turned back and smiled silently, waiting for her to speak.

"...you promise that they're not going to be hurt?"

He nodded. "Of course."

Philia bit her lip. Could she trust him? He's a murderer, ruthlessly slaughtering everything just because he gets a rush out of it.

But what other choice did she have? Should she just let things be? if she really was a real person, then there would be fine.

But what if she was not?

Once SAO would be cleared, then she would disappear. Alone...and forgotten...

The mere thought of betraying her friends' trust and trapping them in a cage was enough to make her stomach turn.

But in the end, her sense of self-preservation overwhelmed everything else.

"…give your word that you won't hurt them."

"...I, PoH, give my word that I won't hurt them."

"T-then...I...I'll do it."

PoH grinned. "Now, we're making progress." He outlined what she was going to do. "...and that's all of it. After that, you and your friends will be home free."

"That's it?"

"That's it...now if you'll excuse me." PoH nodded to someone behind her.

She felt something tap her shoulder from behind. She turned around, only to come face to face with a gauntleted fist that rapidly closed in on her.

Her eyes closed out of reflex, only for them to open up moments later. "Philia! What are you standing around there for? Let's go!" Asuna's voice came from behind her.

She turned around and saw that Asuna, Kirito, and Silica were waiting for her.

She smiled and started walking towards them. But before she could catch up, she saw that their expressions were stiff and apprehensive.

"What's wro-" She reached her hand out to them, but she realized that her hands started to deteriorate into ones and zeroes. She looked down, and other parts of her body started deteriorating as well. "No...this...this can't…." She staggered back, her breathing ragged.

"..." The others stared at her without a word.

The deteriorations covered her whole body, and slowly worked its way up her neck. It wouldn't take long before it finally engulfed her face.

Her vision started turning black, and her ears started ringing. "No...NOOOOOO!" All she could do was shout.

"Philia!" A voice cut through the pitch-black darkness and the overwhelming sound.

"Gah!" Philia bolted upright and frantically looked all around her. She was in the Administration Area, surrounded by her friends. "Haah...haah…"

Are you alright?" Philia felt Asuna's hand on her shoulder. "It's okay. Calm down. Just breathe…" Asuna gently said to her.

"Hah...hah...hah….haaahh….haaahhh…" Philia closed her eyes and focused on her breath. "...hahhh... " She took one deep breath before she opened her eyes and smiled at Asuna. "I...I'm alright now. Thanks, Asuna."

"Thank goodness." Asuna stood up and offered a hand. ."

Philia took Asuna's hand and stood up. "...I don't really know...I got hit by something….and I remember staggering somewhere…"

"A lot of stuff happened after we woke up" Riwet explained. "It's a long story."

"That's right. You've been out for quite a bit, but everything's alright now." Asuna added. "We've got the fragment. Only two more, and we can go back."

Philia looked away. She couldn't bear looking at Asuna after what she had decided to do. "...sorry for not being much help…"

"Don't be absurd. You're safe now, so that's all that matters."

The group slowly disbursed. Kirito and Yui went to the Main Console to try and decipher more of the Hollow Area's secrets. Silica and Riwet went to a corner to rest.

But Asuna remained by her side. "Do you need anything? Maybe something to eat?"

Philia shook her head. "I'm fine. I just need to lie down for a bit…."

"Alright. Just tell me if need anything, okay?"

"...okay…"

Asuna stood up and made her way to Kirito. Philia silently observed her shrinking profile.

If Philia was feeling bad before, she was really feeling it now. That sinking feeling in her stomach, telling her that what she was about to was wrong. Very wrong.

But she had made her decision. And she planned to stick to it.

 _ *****  
Loading...Complete  
*****_

Deep inside the Hollow Area, there existed a peculiar dungeon. An amalgamation of various medieval and esoteric architecture, woven into each other like a braid. Rows and columns of rugged bricks lined the walls and ground, but the torches that illuminated the area - as well as the other liveries present on the dungeon - had an unconventional design that evoked a futuristic feel.

A lilac-haired girl traversed the dungeon halls, trying to find a spot where there were no people around so she could be alone to fool herself that she really did make the right choice.

She shouldn't have come here. She shouldn't have talked to these murderers.

But there was no other way. This one time, their interests aligned.

She shook her head to clear her thoughts, but her mind was still in disarray. She was too focused on her own thoughts that she tripped on an uneven tile.

But before the lilac-haired girl hit the ground, a gauntleted hand pulled her back. "Whoa there. Don't hurt yourself, sweetheart." A youthful voice behind her chuckled.

The lilac-haired girl turned around and looked at him. The player was wearing a hooded coat that hid his body. His hood was down, but he wore goggles over his eyes and a plain black cloth mask covered his lower face. His hair was short and cut neatly from left to right. His seemingly friendly demeanor was a fresh air compared to the other Laughing Coffin guild members, who were all either murderous, lecherous, or just plain insane.

However, Strea was in no mood for conversation. "Don't. Touch. Me." She snarled at him as she shook his hand off and walked away. However pleasant he might be, she shouldn't forget that he was a murderer, just like the rest of his ilk.

"Oof. What the hell's her problem?" The boy sighed as he watched the girl disappear further into the lair.

"Crash and burn. You're losing your touch, Excello." He heard a chuckle coming from behind. "Musta heard what you did to our little blonde-haired girl a little while back."

"Hey, I didn't hit her _that_ hard." Excello shrugged and turned around. Amongst the three hooded people, PoH, his eccentric guild leader, was at the center. "I'm still surprised you let her in. You know she killed three or our guys, right?"

PoH gave a toothy grin. "And nothing of value was lost."

"Heh...yeah. Those two assholes deserved it." Excello smiled back for a moment before he narrowed his eyes. "Speaking of dealing with women, you really make it easy back then, boss. Blondie took the bait. Hook, line, and fucking sinker."

"Hey? Who do you think I am? It's what I do." PoH let out a throaty chuckle. "Let's go and meet up with our a couple of new friends, as well."

"Right behind ya, boss." Excello nodded and pulled his hood up.

The four of them headed out of the hideout.

"So, boss, what's on the schedule for today?"

"We're gonna meet with some new meat. People who have...personal stakes toward our new quarry."

Excello scowled under his mask. "Yeah, about that. Can I just get a hint as to what you're planning? May

PoH chuckled and shook his head. "Relax. I'll explain everything later. I know how much you love surprises."

"Ugh…" Excello sighed in resignation. "Alright, alright, I'm not gonna ask. As long as you leave Lefty to me, I'm fucking gucci."

"Don't worry, Excello. He's all yours."

"Thanks, boss."

"Now let's shut up and start killing some bastards."

 _ *****  
Chapter End  
*****_

 **A/N:** Alright. This has been way too late, and I'm sorry. Real life got in the way. Simple as that.

I didn't have much fun writing it for the most part. I observed the pacing of my story, and I realized that I have room for one filler-style one-off. The problem was that I had too many ideas, and couldn't tie them together until after a couple of rewrites. That, and coupled with real life commitments, was enough to make me feel like I would never complete this Chapter.

However, I really liked what it turned out in the end. I wanted to dip my toes a bit in writing about magic and stuff in preparation for ALO, and the Hollow Area is the perfect place to do that without it being too far off. All in all, I got a bit of practice while developing the other characters, as well as providing some character development here and there and, most exciting for me, giving a sneak peak of my very first OC antagonist. I've got plans for Excello, and I hope that I write them well enough for you to enjoy what happens next.

That's all for now. Thank you very much, and have a good one.


End file.
